Sam Bankman- Fried, the former CEO of FTX, said on Wednesday that the exchange got "overconfident" and "careless" as it grew into a $32 billion powerhouse.
He said that FTX was the darling of Silicon Valley and that he was on the cover of every magazine.
His comments came after FTX filed for Chapter 11 protection. Customers demanded withdrawals and a rival exchange ripped up its nonbinding agreement to purchase the company.
Bankman-Fried said on Wednesday that there were problems that were bigger than he thought. To the best of his knowledge, he thought the exchange had built up around $5 billion of leverage, but he was wrong.
According to an updated bankruptcy filing Tuesday, FTX may have more than one million debts. A number of companies are part of the bankruptcy proceedings.
Bankman-Fried stepped down as CEO on Friday and was replaced by John J. Ray III.
Two days before he was desperate for a rescue, the FTX founder said the company's assets were okay. He says he is trying to recover deposits for the company's customers.
The report was contributed to by CNBC's Ari Levy.
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