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☆ Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has recovered $7.3 bln in assets
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Dietrich Knauth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

April 12 (Reuters) - Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has recovered over $7.3 billion in cash and liquid crypto assets, an increase of more than $800 million since January, the company's attorney said on Wednesday at a U.S. bankruptcy court hearing in Delaware. FTX's new CEO John Ray has detailed improper fund transfers and poor accounting at the collapsed crypto exchange, describing it as a "complete failure" of controls. He offered few details on what a reboot might mean for FTX customers whose crypto deposits have been locked up during the bankruptcy case. FTX would need significant capital to restart its crypto exchange, because the existing customer interface had little connection to the movement of money behind the scenes, the lawyer said. It is not clear whether FTX should use its own funds to re-start the exchange, rather than using the money to repay customers, Dietderich said.

☆ FTX reaches deal to recover over $400 mln from hedge fund Modulo
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Dietrich Knauth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 22 (Reuters) - Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has reached a deal to recover more than $400 million in cash from hedge fund Modulo Capital, pulling back 97% of the money that FTX companies sent to the hedge fund in 2022, according to court documents filed on Wednesday. FTX's new CEO, John Ray, has said his top priority was recovering assets to repay FTX customers. Alameda, at the direction of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, had paid $25 million to acquire a stake in Modulo and contributed $450 million to an investment fund managed by Modulo, according to the filings. FTX also agreed to not take further actions against Modulo or its principals Xiaoyun Zhang and Duncan Rheingans-Yoo related to the 2022 payments, according to the filings. FTX has previously recovered more than $5 billion in its quest to repay customers of the bankrupt crypto exchange.

Companies FTX Trading Limited FollowMarch 20 (Reuters) - Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX on Sunday sued the liquidators overseeing the wind-down of its Bahamian affiliate FTX Digital Markets, accusing them of wrongly claiming ownership of the exchange's assets. FTX called FTX DM a "fraudulent enterprise", initially set up only to be a "local service company", which did not own the FTX.com exchange or any of the cryptocurrency seized. FTX has been at odds with Bahamian officials ever since filing for bankruptcy protection on Nov. 11. The Securities Commission of the Bahamas began liquidation proceedings against FTX DM a day before the U.S. bankruptcy filing of FTX Trading and more than 100 affiliates, and the two sides have sparred over ownership of FTX assets and access to company data. FTX reported this month that Bankman-Fried took $2.2 billion in funds from the company during a period when the crypto exchange lost $8 billion of customer money.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried, U.S. prosecutors near new bail agreement
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, March 17 (Reuters) - Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried are nearing an agreement with U.S. prosecutors on revised bail conditions for the indicted FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder, who is trying to convince a skeptical judge he should remain free. Bankman-Fried's lawyers have said their client was trying to help, not interfere. At the March 10 hearing, prosecutors and defense lawyers proposed giving Bankman-Fried a flip phone with no internet capability and a basic laptop with limited functions. In Friday's letter, Everdell also sought the judge's permission to let Bankman-Fried in the meantime use a laptop to access some FTX materials. The case is U.S. v. Bankman-Fried, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

☆ FTX transferred $2.2 bln to Bankman-Fried via related entities, new managers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 16 (Reuters) - Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX made transfers of about $2.2 billion to company founder Sam Bankman-Fried through related entities, the company's new management said. Overall more than $3.2 billion was transferred through payments and loans to company founders and key employees, FTX said in a statement on Wednesday. FTX filed for bankruptcy protection in November, saying it was unable to completely repay customers who had deposited funds on its exchange. FTX's new CEO, John Ray, has said his top priority was recovering assets to repay FTX customers. read moreReporting by Shubhendu Deshmukh in Bengaluru; Editing by Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Here's why you should expect a housing rebound, according to a top economist at the National Association of Realtors
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

On tap today we've got a great interview with a top real estate economist and this week's best markets stories, including updates on the Silicon Valley Bank meltdown. Nadia Evangelou: What we see in the data is that the housing market will likely pick up in the coming months, in the spring season. NE: It seems that homesales activity has bottomed out, and 2023 will be the turning point for the housing market. Due to low inventory, even though there are relatively few buyers on the market, housing demand continues to outpace housing supply. We expect 4.5 million homes to be sold in 2023, and about 5.3 million homes to be sold in 2024.

☆ Judge to weigh Bankman-Fried's trial schedule, bail conditions at hearing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, March 10 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge is expected on Friday to consider what restrictions Sam Bankman-Fried should face while free on bail, and whether the FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder's Oct. 2 fraud trial should be pushed back. In a letter to Kaplan on Wednesday, Bankman-Fried's lawyers said they may need more time than expected to review the evidence and prepare a defense in light of the new charges. Ellison and Wang, once among Bankman-Fried's closest associates, have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the government. Prosecutors, defense lawyers and Kaplan began revisiting Bankman-Fried's bail conditions after the government said he sought to contact FTX Chief Executive John Ray and an in-house lawyer in what prosecutors described as a possible attempt to tamper with witnesses. Defense lawyers said Bankman-Fried was trying to help, not interfere.

☆ Binance continues to get more popular with Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX out of the picture, despite increased regulatory scrutiny
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Binance is extending its dominance in crypto trading since FTX collapsed in November. Its market share grew to 61.8% in February from 59.4% in January, CryptoCompare data showed. According to data from CryptoCompare cited by CoinDesk, Binance increased its market share for the fourth consecutive month in February, growing to 61.8% from 59.4% in January. Coinbase was a distant second with trading volume of $39.9 billion, down 29% from the prior month, and Kraken was third with $19.3 billion, down 11%. Meanwhile, former rival exchange FTX continues to wade through bankruptcy procedures and is effectively out of the picture as far as competition.

☆ FTX's lawyers and advisers cost $38 million for a month of work - and the bankrupt crypto exchange's new CEO charged $305,000 for February
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The army of professionals working with FTX billed $38 million in expenses for January. FTX CEO John Ray III submitted a bill for $305,565 for the month of February. Those three firms have over 180 lawyers and over 50 other staffers working on the FTX case, per the CoinDesk report. Sullivan & Cromwell billed 14,569 hours of work in January for a total of $16.8 million. Meanwhile, FTX's trading arm sued Grayscale this week in a bid to claw back $250 million to repay customers.

☆ FTX has a massive $9.5 billion shortfall in top crypto and cash needed to repay customers, the bankrupt exchange's new bosses say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

FTX has a $9.5 billion shortfall in top crypto and cash to repay customers, bankruptcy lawyers say. Just $694 million in assets of $2.2 billion recovered are easy to cash in. FTX US also has a shortfall, with $191 million in assets versus $335 million of customer claims and $283 million of related party claims payable. In January, bankruptcy lawyers said they had recovered $5.5 billion in liquid assets from FTX. The Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has estimated that $8 billion of client money had been lost by the exchange.

☆ Top House Republicans scrutinize SEC investigation of failed crypto exchange FTX
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Rep. Patrick McHenry, a Republican of North Carolina and ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, speaks during a hearing in Washington, D.C.Top House Republicans on Friday sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission as Congress scrutinizes the agency's actions against Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Bankman-Fried was scheduled to testify before the committee on Dec. 13, a day after he was arrested by Bahamian officials. FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Bankman-Fried stepped down as its CEO in November. The committee's request comes a week after McHenry announced the panel will examine certain so-called overreaches by financial oversight agencies. The Financial Services Committee requested communications between the SEC's enforcement division, specifically its director, Gurbir Grewal; communications among Gensler's direct staff and records and communications between SEC and the Justice Department over the last few months by 5 p.m. on Feb. 23.

☆ U.S. judge extends FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's bail restrictions
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Shannon StapletonCompanies Ledgerx LLC FollowNEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday extended a ban on FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried's ability to contact employees of companies he once controlled and use encrypted messaging technology while out on bail awaiting trial on fraud charges. As a condition of his release on $250 million bond, the judge also prevented Bankman-Fried from using messaging apps such as Signal that let users auto-delete messages. A prosecutor, Danielle Sassoon, told the judge that the people were connected with FTX but not central to the government case and not expected to testify. Bankman-Fried had also agreed to withdraw his objection to a bail condition preventing him from accessing FTX, Alameda or cryptocurrency assets. Bankman-Fried was extradited from the Bahamas, where he had lived and where the exchange was based, to face the criminal charges.

Companies Ledgerx LLC FollowNEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a proposal to modify Sam Bankman-Fried's bail conditions, despite an agreement between the FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder and prosecutors to address potential witness tampering concerns. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan did not provide reasons for the denial, and said a hearing on bail remains scheduled for Feb. 9. Prosecutors had asked last month to tighten bail, citing Bankman-Fried's efforts to contact both the general counsel of the FTX U.S. affiliate and new FTX Chief Executive John Ray, ostensibly to provide assistance. Bankman-Fried would have also withdrawn his objection to a bail condition preventing him from accessing FTX, Alameda or cryptocurrency assets. They cited the cases' substantial overlap, and the risk Bankman-Fried could gather evidence in the civil cases to help his criminal defense.

Companies Ledgerx LLC FollowNEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a proposal to modify Sam Bankman-Fried's bail conditions, despite an agreement between the FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder and prosecutors to address potential witness tampering concerns. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan did not provide reasons for the denial, and said a hearing on Bankman-Fried's bail remains scheduled for Feb. 9. Prosecutors had asked last month to tighten his bail conditions, citing Bankman-Fried's efforts to contact both the general counsel of the FTX U.S. affiliate and new FTX Chief Executive John Ray, ostensibly to provide assistance. The proposed conditions would prevent Bankman-Fried from talking with most employees of FTX or his Alameda Research hedge fund without lawyers present, or using encrypted messaging apps such as Signal. Reporting by Luc Cohen and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The U.S. Department of Justice's bankruptcy watchdog has urged U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey, who is overseeing FTX's Chapter 11, to appoint an independent examiner to investigate allegations of "fraud, dishonesty, incompetence, misconduct, and mismanagement" that are "too important to be left to an internal investigation." FTX says an examiner would merely duplicate work already being done by FTX, its creditors, and law enforcement agencies. FTX's founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who has been accused of stealing billions of dollars from FTX customers to pay debts incurred by his Alameda Research hedge fund, has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges. FTX's official creditors committee has sided with FTX, saying the proposed investigation is redundant. State securities regulators in Texas, Vermont and Wisconsin supported the Justice Department's bid, saying a neutral report would benefit creditors and customers.

☆ It's time to chill with al the recession talk
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

New York CNN —In 2021, a bunch of economists and policy makers underestimated the inflation that was taking root around the world. In 2022, as inflation hit 40-year-highs and the Fed ramped up interest rates, many of those commentators went full-on gloomy — predicting a recession was all but inevitable. And that makes it hard, if not impossible, to imagine a recession anytime soon. “Any concern the economy is in recession or close to a recession should be completely dashed by these numbers,” Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi told CNN on Friday. “The economy is further away from recession than ever,” wrote Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at Fwdbonds.

☆ The criminal case against Sam Bankman-Fried and Caroline Ellison could put jilted FTX customers in the backseat
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The parallel criminal case against SBF, Caroline Ellison, and Gary Wang may be to blame. But they told a Delaware bankruptcy court recently that they hit a roadblock, accusing Sam Bankman-Fried and those close to him of not playing ball with them. The criminal case takes priorityEllison and Wang separately reached plea deals with federal prosecutors in Manhattan, copping to charges including wire fraud and conspiracy. But, experts told Insider, the deals require them to focus on working with prosecutors in the criminal case — even if it could be at the expense of other parties. But when both criminal and civil proceedings are ongoing, it's the criminal case that goes first in line, Snyder said.

Companies Ledgerx LLC FollowNEW YORK, Feb 1 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Wednesday temporarily barred FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried from contacting current or former employees of the cryptocurrency exchange or his Alameda Research hedge fund, and from using encrypted messaging tools including Signal. He was arrested in December on charges of looting billions of FTX customer funds, and lying to investors and lenders. Prosecutors last week cited a Signal message Bankman-Fried sent on Jan. 15 to the general counsel of the FTX U.S. affiliate, referred to in court papers as "Witness-1." The order does not apply to Bankman-Fried's immediate family members, and he may communicate with FTX or Alameda employees if lawyers are present. At next week's hearing, Kaplan will also consider a request by Bankman-Fried's lawyers to allow him to access and transfer cryptocurrency.

☆ Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius used Quickbooks for its accounting just like FTX, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius used QuickBooks to log its finances just like FTX. According to an examiner's report, Celsius' tracked its finances in 15 QuickBooks files and failed to produce consolidated statements. Later, Pillay found "significant discrepancies" between account balances in Celsius' QuickBooks files and those used to create consolidated statements, per Decrypt. The court examiner found the "files produced by Celsius were not the original files used to prepare the consolidated financial statements." A detailed probe into the troubled crypto lender found that Celsius misled customers when it advertised its business model.

☆ The house that helped secure Sam Bankman-Fried's $250 million bail package reportedly sits on land his parents leased from Stanford
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Sam Bankman-Fried's parents lease the land for their home from Stanford, the LA Times reports. They'd put up the $4 million home as collateral for the former FTX CEO's $250 million bail release. Bail terms are about flight-risk rather than if collateral can cover the full amount, legal experts said. The revelation once again prompts questions about how and why courts set bail terms, which are meant to ensure that a defendant doesn't flee while awaiting trial. Prosecutors are now also arguing that Bankman-Fried's bail restrictions must go further, and impose limits on whom he communicates with and how.

☆ Celsius bankruptcy examiner expected to report on Ponzi allegations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Dietrich Knauth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Jan 30 (Reuters) - A court-ordered examiner is expected to release a report on Monday addressing whether bankrupt crypto firm Celsius Network operated as a Ponzi scheme, which could add to the pressure on founder Alex Mashinsky, who is already facing fraud allegations. Hoboken, New Jersey-based Celsius filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors last July in Manhattan after freezing customer withdrawals from its platform. After appointing Pillay to the job, Glenn expanded her role by asking her to address persistent customer complaints about Mashinsky's conduct. Crypto exchange FTX, which went bankrupt in November, has resisted calls for an examiner in its own Chapter 11 case, citing the cost of overlapping investigations. Pillay and her team have sought to be paid $1.86 million for work performed in October and $1.69 million for November, according to court filings.

Towns said the lawmakers could have until early spring, otherwise, to develop and fine tune any proposals that emerge from Nichols' death. Share this -Link copiedMemphis police’s vaunted Scorpion unit is deactivated after Tyre Nichols' death Memphis police’s vaunted Scorpion unit has been permanently deactivated. Share this -Link copiedNFL calls for change after 'senseless death' of Tyre Nichols A day after the release of video showing the police beating of Tyre Nichols, the NFL on Saturday condemned the violence. Demonstrations continued Saturday in Atlanta, Boston and Charlotte following the release of video footage showing five former Memphis police officers beating Tyre Nichols, who died on Jan. 10. Attorney Blake Ballin’s comments follow the release of video footage showing the officers punching and kicking Tyre Nichols during a Jan. 7 traffic stop.

Bankman-Fried, 30, has been free on $250 million bond since pleading not guilty to charges of fraud in the looting of billions of dollars from the now-bankrupt FTX. But in a letter to U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan, Bankman-Fried's lawyers said prosecutors sprung the "overbroad" bail conditions without revealing that both sides had been discussing bail over the last week. "Rather than wait for any response from the defense, the government sandbagged the process, filing this letter at 6:00 p.m. on Friday evening," Bankman-Fried's lawyers wrote. They said a Signal ban isn't necessary because Bankman-Fried is not using the auto-delete feature, and concern he might is "unfounded." The lawyers also asked to remove a bail condition preventing Bankman-Fried from accessing FTX, Alameda or cryptocurrency assets, saying there was "no evidence" he was responsible for earlier alleged unauthorized transactions.

FTX said in a court filing in Wilmington, Delaware, late on Wednesday that the DOJ's proposed review would only add cost and delay to its bankruptcy case. As part of its own investigation, FTX asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey, who is overseeing its Chapter 11 proceedings, to help it secure documents from Bankman-Fried, members of his family and other insiders with information about FTX transactions that used "misappropriated and stolen" funds. FTX is also seeking information about political donations by Mind the Gap, a political action committee founded by Barbara Fried, and Guarding Against Pandemics, an advocacy organization founded by Sam Bankman-Fried and his brother, Gabriel Bankman-Fried. The U.S. Department of Justice's bankruptcy watchdog has called for an independent investigation into its collapse, a request that received backing from a bipartisan group of U.S. senators. Sam Bankman-Fried, who has been accused of stealing billions of dollars from FTX customers to pay debts incurred by his crypto-focused hedge fund, has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges.

☆ The New York Times, Stanford University, Coinbase and Netflix are among FTX's laundry list of creditors, court filing shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

FTX owes money to media companies, airlines universities, crypto exchanges, and government agencies. The failed exchange has millions of creditors, including Stanford University, Netflix, and Coinbase. FTX owes money to media companies, airlines, charities, universities, cryptocurrency exchanges, and many government agencies, according to a court filing on Wednesday. Although the list does not say how much money each party is owed, the company has millions of creditors, including FTX customers. FTX's new CEO, John Ray III, said he's looking into the possibility of reviving the failed exchange and resuming the platform's normal operations during its bankruptcy process.

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