Michael Lewis, renowned author, claimed in his biography of Bankman-Fried “Going Infinite.” that Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of Alameda Research, nearly lost millions from initial fundraising efforts.
Bankman-Fried raised nearly $170 million from investors who were part of the ‘Effective Altruism’ community. With the intention to invest these funds in the growing, yet inefficient, crypto markets, he aimed to capitalize on price differences and create high-frequency trading strategies.
Unfortunately, these strategies initially failed, with Alameda losing millions in its early months. At one point, losses amounted to over $500,000 every day for a month, says Lewis.
Despite these setbacks, things turned around for Alameda when Gary Wang and Nishad Singh, both FTX directors, joined the firm. Wang coded a quantitative trading system and Singh focused on company management, setting Alameda on the path to becoming the successful crypto exchange FTX.
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