DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

FTX Ventures was described as a $2 billion venture fund, in its press release with Dave. FTX Ventures was allegedly part of that scheme. But the investments appear to be the first identified examples of customer money being used by FTX and Bankman-Fried for venture funding. In explicitly linking the two $100 million investments to customer money, the SEC has raised the possibility that they'll be prospects for clawbacks. FTX's $100 million investment was through a convertible note, a short-term loan of cash that FTX could convert into shares at a later date.

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailEther drops, and court docs show SBF borrowed from Alameda to buy Robinhood stock: CNBC Crypto WorldCNBC Crypto World features the latest news and daily trading updates from the digital currency markets and provides viewers with a look at what's ahead with high-profile interviews, explainers, and unique stories from the ever-changing crypto industry. On today's show, Ari Redbord, the head of legal and government affairs at TRM Labs, breaks down where regulators made the most progress this year and what to expect in 2023.

☆ FTX customers filed a class-action lawsuit against the failed crypto exchange to get their lost money back
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

FTX customers filed a class-action lawsuit against the firm to claim back their money on Tuesday. Four plaintiffs filed the class-action on behalf of millions of former FTX customers saying that the firm's digital assets belong to customers and that they deserve priority access to those funds, according to the lawsuit filed in the US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The class-action wants a declaration that FTX assets traceable to customers are not the company's property, and that Alameda assets traceable to customers should not be considered Alameda property. The lawsuit also named top FTX and Alameda Research executives including Zixiao Wang, Nishad Singh, and Caroline Ellison as defendants. Bankman-Fried was hit with eight criminal charges including fraud and money laundering in December after being arrested.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX saga keeps getting weirder as new details shed further light on how much his company's finances overlapped.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

More details are sure to emerge, but there's already enough fodder for a spectacular thriller novel on par with "The Big Short." A closer scrutiny of court documents reveal an underlying theme of commingled funds, overlapping and mixed finances, and inexcusable, messy bookkeeping. Bankman-Fried's entire enterprise — counting FTX, his hedge fund Alameda Research, as well as scores of smaller entities — were steeped in one another's funds. There's a chance that those who end up in the most financial pain will be everyday investors who, like some institutional investors, trusted their funds to FTX. The CIO of a top-performing fund said 2023's stock market will present a tale of two halves.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried finds sympathy from Bahamians after the FTX implosion - but local rules make it very unlikely they were ever invested in crypto
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sam Bankman-Fried has found sympathy from Bahamians after his crypto empire imploded, according to a New York Times report. One reason Bahamians may express sympathy towards SBF is because of local laws that make it difficult for them to invest in crypto. Sign up for our newsletter to get the inside scoop on what traders are talking about — delivered daily to your inbox. His presence in the Bahamas attracted well-to-do investors to the island via crypto conferences. That's because local rules make it difficult for Bahamians to buy cryptocurrencies, as there are various hurdles they need to navigate.

☆ The Sam Bankman-Fried-backed crypto Solana has lost nearly all its value this year and is still crashing as key projects bail
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Solana, once praised as a viable rival for Ethereum, has tumbled almost 70% since the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's empire, and is down 94% in 2022. The disgraced crypto founder said over the summer that Solana was the most underrated cryptocurrency. The latest decline comes as more crypto projects bail on the Solana ecosystem. FTX and Alameda had purchased over 50.5 million Solana tokens — now worth about $500 million — that would remain "locked" until 2028. Meanwhile, Solana Compass data cited by Forbes showed that Alameda's liquidators now hold over half a billion dollars worth of the crypto.

Dec 27 (Reuters) - FTX customers filed a class action lawsuit against the failed crypto exchange and its former top executives including Sam Bankman-Fried on Tuesday, seeking a declaration that the company's holdings of digital assets belong to customers. The proposed class, which wants to represent more than 1 million FTX customers in the United States and abroad, seeks a declaration that traceable customer assets are not FTX property. The customer class also wants the court to find specifically that property held at Alameda that is traceable to customers is not Alameda property, according to the complaint. The lawsuit seeks a declaration from the court that funds held in FTX U.S. accounts for U.S. customers and in FTX Trading accounts for non-U.S. customers or other traceable customer assets are not FTX property. If the court determines it is FTX property, then the customers seek a ruling that they have a priority right to repayment over other creditors.

☆ Musk's yes-men: 5 experts break down why it's difficult to 'speak truth to power.'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Like yesterday, we're continuing with some of the year's best stories from our VC and startups team. Why it's difficult to "speak truth to power." The top VC and startups stories of 2022:Union Square Ventures; 645 Ventures; Race Capital; Mindset Ventures; Marianne Ayala/Insider6. Former Amazon leaders have infiltrated the tech industry. After dominating the VC industry last year, crossover funds spent 2022 pulling back.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried borrowed $546 million from his hedge fund to buy a Robinhood stake
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

In an affidavit that emerged Tuesday, Bankman-Fried said he and FTX co-founder Gary Wang borrowed more than $546 million from the hedge fund, Alameda Research, which they used to purchase the Robinhood shares via a holding company primarily controlled by Bankman-Fried. Wang has since pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud and conspiracy, in cooperation with US prosecutors investigating FTX’s collapse. Four separate entities have laid claim to the approximately 56 million shares, worth about $450 million. Also claiming the Robinhood shares are bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi, and an individual FTX creditor. BlockFi is suing Bankman-Fried for the Robinhood shares, which BlockFi claims it is owed after Alameda defaulted on $680 million in collateralized loan obligations.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried will enter a plea next week in FTX case, court filings show
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sam Bankman-Fried is scheduled to enter a plea on January 3. Two of his top lieutenants, including Caroline Ellison, already pleaded guilty to a fraud scheme. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyFTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to enter a plea at a court hearing next week, court filings show. A docket entry on Wednesday designated it as an arraignment hearing, meaning that Bankman-Fried is now scheduled to enter his plea. On Tuesday, the criminal cases of Bankman-Fried, Ellison, and Wang were assigned to US District Judge Lewis Kaplan.

NEW YORK, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to enter a plea next week to criminal charges he defrauded investors and looted billions of dollars in customer funds at his failed FTX cryptocurrency exchange. Kaplan was assigned to the case on Tuesday, after the original judge recused herself because her husband's law firm had advised FTX before its collapse. Before his Dec. 12 arrest, Bankman-Fried acknowledged risk-management failures at FTX, but said he did not believe he was criminally liable. Two of his associates, former Alameda chief executive Caroline Ellison and former FTX chief technology officer Gary Wang, have pleaded guilty over their roles in FTX's collapse and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Its new chief executive, John Ray, told Congress on Dec. 13 that the exchange lost $8 billion of customer money while being run by "grossly inexperienced, non-sophisticated individuals."

☆ The judge in the FTX fraud case stepped down because her husband works for a firm that advised Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto exchange last year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ronnie Abrams, the US district judge in the FTX fraud case, stepped down and has been replaced. She said that her husband is a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, which last year advised FTX. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan has taken over the FTX case. Ronnie Abrams, a judge at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, said in a filing on Friday that she was stepping down. On Tuesday, the case was reassigned to Lewis A. Kaplan, a senior judge at the court, legal filings show.

☆ This little-known firm with a weird website was central to the misappropriation of FTX customers' money, regulators say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Gretchen Morgenson | Gretchen Morgenson Is The Senior Financial Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. A Former Stockbroker | She Won The Pulitzer Prize In For Her | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Still, North Dimension had a crucial role in the FTX mess, regulators now say. In fact, they contend, the little-known company was central to the furtive misappropriation of FTX customers’ funds. But North Dimension Inc. also appears to have been a fake online electronics retailer, an NBC News investigation found. The second North Dimension website is sparse, with just two pages superimposed on a photo of a mountain range. An analysis by DomainTools shows this North Dimension site was created on Oct. 3, 2022, and registered in Ontario, Canada.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried may have trouble getting a plea bargain as 'the buck presumably stopped with him,' former federal prosecutor says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A plea bargain may be out of reach for Sam Bankman-Fried, according to a former federal prosecutor. The buck presumably stopped with him. But it's unclear if Bankman-Fried can point the finger at others. He could still offer a quick guilty plea, similar to what Bernie Madoff did in 2009 after his Ponzi scheme was exposed. But Madoff got a substantial sentence anyway, McGinley noted, so "the options here are very limited" for Bankman-Fried.

☆ FTX customers sent money to a fake electronics retailer with a website full of misspelled words that was key to funding SBF's Alameda, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX had customers wire money to North Dimension, a mysterious company with a fake electronics retail website, NBC News reported. Money sent to North Dimension would end up funding Alameda Research's trading activity, the SEC alleged. The North Dimension website has been deactivated, but had misspelled words and claimed to sell laptops and phones. And according to NBC News, North Dimension operated a fake online electronics retail shop, which has now been disabled and archived. Some of the items listed on North Dimension showed "sale" prices that were retailing well above their normal price, per NBC News.

Law firms Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP FollowDec 27 (Reuters) - Sam Bankman-Fried's criminal case over the collapse of his FTX cryptocurrency exchange has been reassigned to a judge recently known for handling defamation lawsuits against former U.S. President Donald Trump and a sexual abuse lawsuit against Britain's Prince Andrew. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan replaces his colleague Ronnie Abrams, who recused herself on Friday after learning that the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, where her husband is a partner, advised FTX in 2021. Trump has sought the dismissal of both lawsuits, including a battery claim. Kaplan also recently oversaw Virginia Giuffre's civil lawsuit accusing Prince Andrew of sexually abusing her when she was 17 at the London home of Ghislaine Maxwell, the now-convicted former associate of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried bought Robinhood stock using hundreds of millions of dollars from his trading firm Alameda Research
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried took funds from his trading firm, Alameda Research, to buy Robinhood stock, court documents shows. Later, Alameda took out a loan and pledged those same shares as collateral, CoinDesk reported. Later, Alameda took out a loan and pledged those same shares as collateral, CoinDesk said. Now-bankrupt BlockFi alleged that it has rights to the Robinhood shares based on deals Bankman-Fried agreed to in November, a separate court document shows. The development is the latest example to come to light of how the finances of FTX, Alameda and other pieces of Bankman-Fried's empire were entangled.

☆ Business partners turn on Sam Bankman-Fried
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Last week, as FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was being extradited to the United States from the Bahamas, two of his former business partners pleaded guilty to multiple charges of fraud and conspiracy. “I am truly sorry for what I did,” Ellison told the court. She and Bankman-Fried were close business associates who briefly dated. Bankman-Fried, 30, appeared Thursday in a US courtroom in New York, where a federal judge released him on a $250 million bond. Following his court appearance, Bankman-Fried was spotted in a business class lounge at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

☆ Caroline Ellison said she grew up 'exposed to a lot of economics.' Here's everything we know about her MIT economist parents.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Caroline Ellison pleaded guilty to wire and securities fraudCaroline Ellison, the former CEO of the crypto trading firm Alameda Research, has become entwined in the criminal proceedings related to FTX's collapse. Ellison pleaded guilty to seven charges of wire and securities fraud earlier this month. The New York Times reported that she told a district judge she was "truly sorry" for what she did and that she "knew it was wrong." It also said that Ellison was aware that Bankman-Fried made "false and misleading" statements to FTX investors. Here's everything we know about her parents, who are both economists at MIT.

☆ Caroline Ellison told a judge she's 'truly sorry' for defrauding FTX customers – and 'knew that it was wrong'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Caroline Ellison told a judge she's "truly sorry" for her role in FTX's collapse, per New York Times. The former CEO of Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto-trading firm Alameda Research told US District Judge Ronnie Abrams in Manhattan federal court "I am truly sorry for what I did. The court unsealed the transcript of her plea hearing on December 22. Ellison told the judge she went along with the decision of her ex-boyfriend Bankman-Fried and others to conceal the close relationship between FTX and Alameda, according to the transcript seen by The Times. She also said she agreed with the decision to divert billions in customer deposits at FTX to pay off loans of Alameda.

☆ FTX execs hid $8 billion in liabilities in a customer account that Bankman-Fried referred to as 'our Korean friend's account,' CFTC prosecutors allege
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Alameda Research borrowed billions of dollars of customer funds from FTX exchange. The firm's liabilities were then masked under a pseudonym account on FTX. Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang have pleaded guilty to numerous counts of fraud. The lawsuit also claimed that Bankman-Fried would later refer to that account as "our Korean friend's account" and/or "the weird Korean account." Wang pleaded guilty to four counts of similar charges.

☆ Caroline Ellison told a judge that FTX executives secretly borrowed billions from Alameda Research, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Caroline Ellison told a judge that FTX execs secretly borrowed billions from Alameda Research. She said she and Sam Bankman-Fried concealed the credit line from FTX investors and customers. In November, Reuters reported that Bankman-Fried secretly moved $10 billion in FTX customer funds to Alameda Research. Bankman-Fried told Reuters the sum was not "secretly" transferred: "We had confusing internal labeling and misread it." FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on November 11 after it imploded, wiping out customer deposits worth billions.

☆ Everything we know about Nishad Singh, the 27-year-old former FTX exec who had an 8% stake in the crypto exchange
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Nishad Singh was FTX's Director of Engineering and had a 7.8% stake in the crypto exchange. Singh received a $543 million loan from Alameda Research, per bankruptcy filings. Singh was FTX's director of engineering, and had a 7.8% stake in the company. Singh's nearly 8% stake, which also included FTX subsidiary FTX.US, was worth about $572 million in March of this year. A year after Singh became FTX's director of engineering, he became a steady donor for the Democratic Party.

Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang both pleaded guilty and are cooperating with prosecutors as part of their plea agreements. Roos said Bankman-Fried carried out a "fraud of epic proportions" that led to the loss of billions of dollars of customer and investor funds. Bankman-Fried has acknowledged risk-management failures at FTX but said he does not believe he has criminal liability. A flurry of customer withdrawals in early November amid concerns about commingling of FTX funds with Alameda prompted FTX to declare bankruptcy on Nov. 11. Bankman-Fried was arrested in the capital Nassau on Dec. 12 and arrived in the United States on Wednesday after consenting to extradition.

Companies Ledgerx LLC FollowNEW YORK, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Sam Bankman-Fried was released on a $250 million bond package on Thursday while he awaits trial over the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange, which a U.S. prosecutor called a "fraud of epic proportions." His defense lawyer, Mark Cohen, declined to comment after the hearing in Manhattan federal court. U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein set Bankman-Fried's next court date for Jan. 3, 2023, before U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams, who will handle the case. The bond is meant to ensure that if Bankman-Fried flees, the government could confiscate the family's assets - including their Palo Alto home - up to $250 million. Details of their cooperation were kept under wraps until Bankman-Fried left the Bahamas, according to court papers filed on Thursday.

Search resuls for: "Alameda"

25 mentions found