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He is scheduled to appear at 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT) before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan. Bankman-Fried has admitted to making mistakes running FTX but said he did not believe he was criminally liable. The prosecution case was strengthened by last month's guilty pleas of two of Bankman-Fried's closest associates. Caroline Ellison, who was Alameda's chief executive, and Gary Wang, FTX's former chief technology officer, pleaded guilty to seven and four criminal charges, respectively, and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Bankman-Fried, Ellison and Wang were also sued by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX collapse is a nightmare of shady finances - and these bizarre schemes emerged recently
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Recently, it emerged that FTX reportedly told customers to wire money to a little-known, fake electronics retailer website. One SEC complaint said FTX told customers to wire money to a subsidiary that was a little-known fake online electronics retailer. "FTX was an opaque company that was so centralized it relied entirely on one person," Andrew Yeoh, chief marketing officer of Web3 firm Nillion, told Insider. He has denied criminal liability and is due to appear in a New York federal court on January 3 for charges of wire fraud and conspiracy. "The point of crypto is that it's fully decentralized and trustless," he told Insider.

☆ Here are the most shocking details of how FTX misused funds and treated customer money as its own private ATM, according to CFTC findings
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

FTX customer funds were comingled with Alameda since the beginning of the exchange's inception, according to a recent CFTC complaint. When Alameda's external loans were called in, FTX customer funds were used to cover the debts. The complaint also alleges Bankman-Fried, his parents, and some employees used customer funds for personal purchases and loans. Under the direction of Bankman-Fried, FTX customer funds were further used to cover the debt. It has also become clear that the flashy ad and sports campaigns were funded by customer deposits.

☆ Privacy and crypto will likely lead tech policy under split Congress as hope for passing ambitious antitrust reforms dwindles
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

After what started as a hopeful year for tech policy, the 117th Congress is about to close out its term with many key efforts tabled. That's the case with privacy legislation, where a bill proposed this year gained bipartisan support, passing out of a House committee with a near-unanimous vote. The pair blamed the bills' failure to advance on intense lobbying efforts by the tech industry against them. One prominent bipartisan bill in the Senate would put the CFTC in charge. "But the importance of tech policy issues will still be strong."

☆ These top deputies of Sam Bankman-Fried were former regulators who tried to expand FTX's reach in Washington, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Some of Sam Bankman-Fried's top advisers were former officials at the CFTC and SEC, according to the LA Times. And in August 2021, Wetjen requested a meeting with CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam and his chief of staff. "Reaching out to seek some time to discuss with you a LedgerX matter of considerable urgency," Wetjen wrote to Behnam. Behnam was forthright about his meeting with Bankman-Fried when asked on December 1 by the Senate Agriculture Committee, and said the meeting was related to FTX's clearinghouse application. Bankman-Fried."

☆ 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.

☆ U.S. dollar weakens as risk appetite rises with data showing slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose 0.1% last month after climbing 0.4% in October. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the PCE index gained 0.2% after increasing 0.3% in October. The so-called core PCE price index rose 4.7% on a year-on-year basis in November after increasing 5.0% in October. The Canadian dollar also benefited from data showing that the Canadian economy grew by 0.1% in October versus September, with another 0.1% increase in GDP seen likely in November, Statistics Canada data showed. Against the yen, however, the dollar rose 0.4% to 132.82 yen .

☆ Cryptocurrency risks come partly from the trading venues themselves, ex-CFTC chairman says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailCryptocurrency risks come partly from the trading venues themselves, ex-CFTC chairman saysTimothy Massad, research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and former chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, says cryptocurrency exchanges aren't following traditional standards.

FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who is accused of misappropriating billions of dollars deposited in the crypto currency exchange, will be released on $250 million personal recognizance bond, a federal judge in New York ruled Thursday. Bankman-Fried, wearing a dark blue suit and tan shoes, walked into court with shackles around his ankles. A recognizance bond is a written commitment from the accused to appear in court when ordered. Bankman-Fried’s parents, both Stanford Law professors, were in the courtroom. Sam Bankman-Fried, center, arrives at the Magistrate Court building for a hearing in Nassau, Bahamas, on Dec. 21, 2022.

The co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and the former CEO of Sam Bankman-Fried's hedge fund, Alameda Research, have pleaded guilty to fraud, a federal prosecutor in New York said Wednesday. The SEC complaint alleges that Wang "created FTX’s software code that allowed Alameda to divert FTX customer funds," and that Ellison used those funds for Alameda's trading. The SEC complaint alleges a complex scheme to trick both investors and customers into believing that FTX had strict and advance risk mitigation. "From the inception of FTX, Defendants and Bankman-Fried diverted FTX customer funds to Alameda, and continued to do so until FTX’s collapse in November 2022," the SEC complaint reads. “If you participated in misconduct at FTX or Alameda, now is the time to get ahead of it,” he said.

☆ Read the CFTC complaint against FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried and his associates Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The CFTC filed fraud charges against Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang on Wednesday. Bankman-Fried, who cofounded FTX and Alameda, was arrested in the Bahamas last week and extradited to the US on Wednesday. The amended complaint charges Ellison with fraud and material misrepresentations and Wang with fraud. The CFTC said Ellison and Wang didn't contest their liability on its claims. On Wednesday the Securities and Exchange Commission also charged Ellison and Wang with participating in a scheme to defraud both FTX's equity investors and its customers.

Federal prosecutors endorsed plans to allow two former Sam Bankman-Fried lieutenants, Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison, to post bail after both pleaded guilty to supporting a multibillion-dollar fraud allegedly perpetrated by former FTX CEO Bankman-Fried, court documents show. Wang and Ellison would be required to post $250,000 in bail each, surrender their passports and restrict their travel to the continental United States. In addition to admitting their complicity in the collapse of FTX, Wang and Ellison signed consent orders with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a civil concession that Bankman-Fried has yet to make. Wang, 29, and Ellison, 28, both pleaded guilty to fraud charges stemming from their leadership positions at FTX and Alameda, respectively. In a prerecorded statement Wednesday night, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said the indicted former FTX CEO had been taken into FBI custody after a chaotic Bahamas extradition process.

FTX co-founder Gary Wang and former Alameda Research co-CEO Caroline Ellison both pleaded guilty to federal charges in the Southern District of New York, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a message Wednesday. Wang pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Ellison pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud, two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The SEC alleges that both Ellison and Wang, in their respective roles at Alameda and FTX, abetted Bankman-Fried in allegedly defrauding FTX customers. Ellison, 28, and Wang, 29, become the second and third individuals to be charged in connection with FTX's multibillion-dollar collapse.

☆ Sam-Bankman Fried to be released on $250 million bail and will be required to stay with parents ahead of FTX trial
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Sam Bankman-Fried was granted release on $250 million bail at a court hearing Thursday. He will be required to surrender his passport and stay with his parents ahead of a federal trial on a list of charges tied to the failure of FTX. Bankman-Fried will be required to attend a court hearing in California at 10 a.m. Friday, Gorenstein ruled. Another court hearing is scheduled for January 3 in Manhattan, where Bankman-Fried is expected to enter a plea. Criminal allegations against Ellison and Wang, first filed on December 19, were unsealed in court on Thursday morning ahead of Bankman-Fried's court appearance.

Indicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried on Tuesday agreed to be extradited from the Bahamas to the United States, according to a Bahamian court official. The paperwork has been filed with the court, and Bankman-Fried will fly to the U.S. on Wednesday, said Doan Cleare, acting Commissioner of Corrections, Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. Bankman-Fried, 30, is accused of misappropriating billions of dollars deposited in FTX, a huge cryptocurrency exchange that collapsed in November. At one time FTX was reportedly valued at $32 billion and seen as the face of the industry. Once he’s back in the U.S., Bankman-Fried can request that he be released on a bail.

☆ Democrats' Senate Majority PAC plans to return $3 million in donations from disgraced former FTX executives
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The pro-Democratic Senate Majority PAC plans to return $3 million in donations from former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and the crypto exchange's ex-head of engineering, Nishad Singh, the group said Tuesday. The super PAC, which spent more than $160 million supporting Democratic bids for Senate seats, received $2 million from Singh and $1 million from Bankman-Fried during the 2022 election cycle, according to Federal Election Commission records. The Democratic National Committee and the party's Senate and House campaign arms — the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — have made similar commitments to return donations from former FTX executives. Bankman-Fried has contributed millions toward other PACs aligned with the Democratic Party, including to the House Majority PAC, Protect Our Future and Future Forward USA. Bankman-Fried also donated $6 million in April to House Majority PAC, which raises money for Democratic candidates running for the lower chamber, according to an FEC filing.

When the hearing concluded, Bankman-Fried was given the chance to speak on the phone with his U.S. defense lawyer with Roberts present. After the hearing, Bankman-Fried was remanded back to the custody of the Bahamas' Department of Corrections. [1/9] The Founder and former CEO of crypto currency exchange FTX Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the Magistrate Court building in Nassau, Bahamas December 19, 2022. Roberts told Serville initially that he did not know why Bankman-Fried was brought to court on Monday morning. Following a recess, the lawyer said Bankman-Fried wanted to see the indictment before consenting to extradition.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show that speculators now hold the smallest net short position in three-month 'SOFR' rate futures since April, and the largest net short dollar position since July last year. The CFTC report showed that funds and speculators cut their net short position in three-month Secured Overnight Financing Rate futures to 332,000 contracts from 532,000 the week before. chartSince mid-October, the SOFR curve has consistently implied a peak fed funds rate of around 5.00% by June next year. A short position is essentially a wager that an asset's price will fall, and a long position is a bet it will rise. CFTC funds are now holding a $16.6 billion net long euro position, compared with a $6 billion net short position at the start of September.

The combined position had been reduced to 343 million barrels (11th percentile for all weeks since 2013), down from 579 million barrels (47th percentile) five weeks earlier. In the most recent week, there were continued sales of Brent (-6 million barrels), U.S. diesel (-7 million) and U.S. gasoline (-5 million) and no change in European gas oil. Chartbook: CFTC and ICE commitments of tradersFrom a fundamental perspective, the outlook for oil prices remains mixed. Production cuts by OPEC+, sluggish output growth from U.S. shale, and the eventual reopening of China’s economy are bullish for oil prices. From a positioning perspective, however, the balance of risks has clearly tilted towards the upside, especially in crude oil.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (2nd L) is led away handcuffed by officers of the Royal Bahamas Police Force in Nassau, Bahamas on December 13, 2022. FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried will no longer contest extradition to the U.S., an about-face just days after he was remanded to Bahamian jail pending a hearing, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC. The former crypto billionaire will appear in Bahamian court this Monday to formally waive his extradition rights, paving the way for federal authorities to secure his return to the U.S. The change of heart would move up the timeline for Bankman-Fried's federal trial significantly. Charges from the SEC and CFTC indicated that FTX had commingled customer funds with Bankman-Fried's crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research, and that billions in customer deposits had been lost along the way.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX wants to sell some of its last remaining solvent businesses as its restructuring process picks up
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

FTX wants to sell some of its last functioning business units, according to a court filing. The embattled company has petitioned a federal court for permission to sell several of its subsidiaries, including US derivatives platform LedgerX, as the troubled firm's restructuring process picks up. Company attorneys say it's a "priority" for FTX to "explore sales" and "strategic transactions" of some of its remaining businesses, according to a court filing on Thursday. The filing continued: "The Debtors believe a number of these entities have solvent balance sheets, independent management and valuable franchises." FTX wants to sell these businesses fast, according to the court document, which indicated that some of the entities have had their operating licenses suspended following FTX's collapse.

☆ The criminal charges against Sam Bankman-Fried carry big penalties and jail time if proven, legal experts say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

If he pleads guilty or ends up being convicted, a federal judge will ultimately decide the length of any prison sentence. And those charges come with potentially big penalties, if he's found guilty: In a sparse indictment unsealed on Tuesday morning, federal prosecutors in Manhattan listed eight criminal counts. Prosecutors leveled multiple conspiracy and wire fraud charges, some of which can be fairly straightforward as they don't require elaborate exposition to support, according to legal experts. It is too soon to tell what, if any, charges Bankman-Fried would be convicted on. But federal criminal statutes prescribe these maximum prison penalties for the following counts:Four counts relating to wire fraud: Maximum sentence for each count is 20 years in prison.

☆ FTX Fraud Suits Offer Blueprint for Pursuing Offshore Crypto Exchanges
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Dave Michaels | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

FTX was one of the largest overseas crypto exchanges, based on a Caribbean island with a friendly regulatory regime, and arguably beyond the reach of U.S. rules that govern how trading firms deal with investors and consumers. The lawsuits filed Tuesday show how U.S. regulators have found a way to police global crypto conduct they don’t closely regulate. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission alleged, for instance, that Bahamas-based FTX affected the price of commodities sold in the U.S. That gave the CFTC authority to file a civil fraud lawsuit against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and his companies.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alleged Campaign Finance Violations Explained
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Chad Day | Paul Kiernan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

U.S. authorities have accused Sam Bankman-Fried of violating federal campaign finance law as part of what they called a sweeping scheme to defraud customers of FTX, the crypto company he founded. Here’s what we know—and don’t know—about the campaign finance allegations against Mr. Bankman-Fried from his indictment and lawsuits filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

☆ Parents of Sam Bankman-Fried face scrutiny over their roles in FTX
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Now, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, the FTX founder’s parents, may face legal troubles of their own. Bankman-Fried’s lawyer declined to comment when asked about scrutiny of his parents. The new CEO of FTX is John Ray III, a restructuring expert tasked with shepherding the company through its complex bankruptcy. They have told friends that their son’s legal bills will likely wipe them out financially, according to the paper. A judge ordered that Bankman-Fried must remain in custody after denying a request for bail, calling him a flight risk.

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