Kevin O'Leary and Anthony Scaramucci say their due diligence failed to spot FTX risks. 'We all have egg on our faces.'

• Kevin O'Leary and Anthony Scaramucci opened up about their relationship with FTX and its ex-CEO.
• They expressed regret for conducting business with the collapsed firm, saying their due diligence had failed to spot the risks.

Kevin O'Leary and Anthony Scaramucci expressed regret over their involvement with failed crypto exchange FTX, saying that due diligence done by them and other high-profile investors had failed to spot the risks.

"We all look like idiots, let's call it what it is," "Shark Tank" investor O'Leary said at Benzinga's The Future of Crypto event on Wednesday. "We all have egg on our faces. But this is not the end of the story," he added. SkyBridge Capital's Scaramucci agreed.

The pair lost millions invested in FTX following its shocking collapse last month.

"I think what has to happen now is 100% transparency, get the data, follow the path of the money. In my case, I'm going to find out where every cent of mine went," O'Leary continued.

Investigations into the collapse of FTX has opened a Pandora's box of issues with the exchange, after reports about billions of dollars in FTX customer funds going missing and manipulation of the crypto market by Bankman-Fried rise to the surface.

The exchange filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 11 after it failed to secure an $8 billion cash injection following a severe liquidity squeeze. Initial rumours about its collapse prompted a bank-run like dash by customers to withdraw funds and drained some users of their life-savings.

O'Leary and Scaramucci also suffered from its collapse, saying they didn't know Bankman-Fried could've been linked to dodgy acts. "There was a lot there to suggest he wasn't doing what he was doing," Scaramucci said, referring to reports that Bankman-Fried quietly swept $10 billion of customer funds from FTX to its sister trading company Alameda Research.

Despite the headwinds faced however, Scaramucci said he's still not deterred by the crypto industry, stressing the need to take risks. "You don't go from a blue collar family like I grew up in Long Island and get to where I am now without throwing the ball and having interceptions and fumbles on the field. But you score a lot of touchdowns," he said.

"For the young people in this room, you have to take risk, you have to break new ground," he said, referring to the crypto space.