FTX lured African students with high pay to recruit colleagues, report

• Collapsed FTX lured African students to become its ambassadors.
• The Ambassadors were paid to teach new investors about blockchain and crypto.
• Even after the collapse of FTX, some of the students have maintained they will not quit crypto.

A recent report has indicated that the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX allegedly lured African students with high pay to recruit their fellow learners to become FTX investors. According to the report, in certain cases, the students were asked to ensure that the newly recruited investors deposited funds with the exchange and/or traded.

The students were also paid to teach the new investors about blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies in addition to encouraging the investors to invest with the platform. Successful students could earn as much as 40% in commissions.

According to the report by CNBC, many of the students involved in the ambassador program were not aware of the precarious financial position the exchange was in. As a result, the students were still actively recruiting even after the exchange collapsed.

Wasn’t expected to collapse

According to one student by the name of Imran Yahya who was FTX’s ambassador at Bayero University in Nigeria, FTX’s collapse proved that no company is too big to collapse.

In an interview with CNBC, Yahya said:

“I kind of trusted them. I was like, I was part of the people saying FTX was too big to fail. I don’t think it is, like, wise to leave your money there, and they have full control over your money. So just like any bank.”

Despite losing time and money, being left with the feeling of guilt, and broken personal relationships, a majority of the ambassadors have into terms with the saga and are still enthusiastic about cryptocurrencies.