Fashion Model Gisele Bündchen Explains Why She Invested in FTX

The Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen said her financial advisers pushed her into investing in the now-bankrupt exchange FTX, describing it as “a sound and great” opportunity.

She and her ex-husband – the NFL legend Tom Brady – are among the numerous people who parted with substantial funds due to their involvement with the former crypto giant.

Praying for Justice

The massive demise of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX in November last year left multiple investors empty-handed, some of those including well-known athletes, TV personalities, and all kinds of celebrities. One of the highest-paid models in the world – Gisele Bündchen – is also part of the list.

In a recent interview, she blamed her financial advisers for letting her become a victim of the crash. The Brazilian further said she trusted the hype around the platform’s former CEO – Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) – while, at first, she was “blindsided” by the failure. 

Shortly after, Bündchen realized the real damage and the scope of the FTX collapse, hoping those responsible for it face justice:

“It’s just…terrible. I’m so sorry for all of us that this happened, and I just pray that justice gets made.”

As CryptoPotato recently reported, the model owns over 680,000 common shares of FTX. Her ex-spouse – Tom Brady – has even larger exposure, holding more than 1.1 million stocks.

Other prominent names who got burned by the catastrophe include the Canadian entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary (better known as Mr. Wonderful) and the American billionaire Robert Kraft.

Renowned companies like Amazon, Google, Netflix, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and many more are also part of the nearly 10 million creditors. 

The FTX Doom: Crypto’s Darkest Event in 2022

While last year was full of scandals and company collapses, one fallout stands above all – that of FTX (a cryptocurrency exchange that was once among the industry leaders).

It all began at the beginning of November when outlets hinted there could be severe cracks in the platform’s sister firm – Alameda Research. Reports claimed the latter was heavily invested in FTT – the native token of FTX. 

Several days later, Binance – the world’s largest crypto exchange – vowed to liquidate all of its remaining FTT holdings, causing a price crash of the token. 

Despite the growing uncertainty around FTX, SBF assured that the company’s status was stable while assets were “fine.” However, it seemed like nothing was as described by the CEO, and the firm stopped honoring withdrawal requests.

Binance intended to acquire the struggling exchange but withdrew its plans after conducting proper due diligence. 

SBF apologized for making certain mistakes, including failing to calculate FTX’s liquidity properly, which, according to him, caused the company’s downfall. He resigned from his CEO position on November 11, while his firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. 

The crash, seen by many as a classic example of fraud, triggered multi-billion investor losses, a market decline, and a domino effect of other adverse events in the sector. SBF was arrested and spent a few days in a Bahamian jail before the authorities extradited him to the US.

The American magistrates allowed him to stay at his parents’ house under a whopping $250 million bond. A trial against him, set for October 2, will determine whether he played a role in the demise and rule out his final sentence. 

Featured Image Courtesy of CW