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☆ Regulators in the Bahamas back their estimate on $3.5 billion in seized FTX crypto assets, saying the exchange's counter-claim of $296 million is due to 'incomplete information'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Regulators in the Bahamas stood by their estimate on the $3.5 billion in crypto assets they seized from FTX. They rejected FTX's claims that the assets are worth just $296 million. "Such public assertions by the Chapter 11 debtors were based on incomplete information," the SCB said. The Securities Commission of the Bahamas pushed back against FTX's own valuation of $296 million, saying "Such public assertions by the Chapter 11 debtors were based on incomplete information." Meanwhile, FTX founder and former chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried is set to be arraigned in court on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court.

☆ Bahamas Regulator Says It Seized $3.5 Billion in FTX Crypto Assets
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Jonathan Randles | Becky Yerak | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Bahamas securities regulators said they seized digital assets valued at $3.5 billion from FTX’s local operation in mid-November as the cryptocurrency exchange spiraled toward collapse and confirmed they relied on FTX’s co-founders to make the transfers happen. Christina Rolle, executive director of the Securities Commission of the Bahamas, said in an affidavit made public Thursday that the commission sought control of the crypto assets held by FTX Digital Markets Ltd. last month after FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried told local authorities under oath about a hacking attempt.

☆ Bahamian regulator says it seized $3.5 billion of FTX crypto assets for 'safekeeping'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The Securities Commission of The Bahamas says it seized $3.5 billion worth of cryptocurrency from collapsed crypto exchange FTX. In a media release late Thursday, the watchdog confirmed the total sum taken from FTX's Bahamian subsidiary, FTX Digital Markets, and added that the funds were moved into its own digital wallets "for safekeeping." The regulator had previously confirmed it was holding some of FTX's digital assets but did not specify the amount. The transfer took place on Nov. 12, the day after FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. The regulator said it took the funds after receiving information from Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX's disgraced co-founder, concerning cyberattacks on the systems of FTX's Bahamian unit.

Dec 22 (Reuters) - FTX founder and former Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried, who faces U.S. fraud charges over the collapse of FTX, ran his crypto empire with a number of associates. GARY WANGGary Wang co-founded FTX and Alameda Research with Bankman-Fried, and served as FTX's chief technology officer. He and Bankman-Fried met at a math camp in high school and became college roommates, Bankman-Fried wrote in a now-unavailable FTX blog. Wang worked as a software engineer at Google before co-founding FTX and Alameda, according to an archived webpage for the FTX Future Fund, the company's charitable effort. NISHAD SINGHNishad Singh was a best friend of Bankman-Fried's brother in high school, Bankman-Fried wrote in the deleted blog post.

☆ Who is Ryan Salame, the FTX exec, Republican mega-donor, and New England restaurateur who blew the whistle on FTX?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Ryan Salame, FTX Digital Market's Co-CEO, tipped off regulators about what was going on at the exchange. Days before disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Co-CEO Salame tipped off regulators on alleged malfeasance at the once-$32 billion crypto empire. Bankman-Fried notoriously told a Vox reporter "fuck regulators....they make everything worse" shortly after FTX filed for bankruptcy protection last month. "I always thought he was a great leader," Childs, who hasn't seen Salame since highschool, told The Berkshire Eagle. He purchased six pieces of real estate in the area to the tune of $6 million, according to The Berkshire Eagle.

☆ An FTX exec bought $6 million of real estate and restaurants in a small Massachusetts town. The crypto giant's collapse has local officials worried about its future.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ryan Salame, a co-CEO at FTX, bought $6 million of restaurants and real estate in Lenox, Massachusetts. A local newspaper reported last year that Salame owned almost half the town's restaurants. As first reported by local news outlet The Berkshire Eagle, Ryan Salame, who was co-CEO at FTX Digital Markets, invested $6 million in restaurants and real estate in Lenox. Bankman-Fried has been accused of funneling customer funds into his trading firm, Alameda, and using some customer money to buy luxury real estate and fund political donations. The Wall Street Journal also reported that Salame vomited upon hearing about FTX's impending collapse.

☆ How FTX founder SBF and friends quietly donated to political groups and relatives
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is led by officers of the Royal Bahamas Police force following his arrest. The disgraced CEO donated to his brother Gabe Bankman-Fried's nonprofit organization, Guarding Against Pandemics. Alameda Research donated more than $12 million to Gabe Bankman-Fried's nonprofit since late last year, according to California state campaign finance records. California state campaign finance records show Alameda donated $5 million to Guarding Against Pandemics last year and $7.1 million this year. Guarding Against Pandemics also paid political communications and media company GMMB just over $690,000 last year for advertising and production, its tax form says.

☆ A top FTX exec blew the whistle on Sam Bankman-Fried's moves just 2 days before the crypto exchange's collapse
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

An FTX exec told authorities about potential illegality at the crypto exchange 2 days before its bankruptcy. He worked for Alameda between 2019 and 2021 before joining FTX Digital Markets, the crypto exchange's Bahamas division. Like Democratic Party donor Bankman-Fried, Salame has high-profile political ties: his partner is failed far-right Republican congressional candidate Michelle Bond. Bond's congressional candidate financial disclosure report showed that she received $400,000 in consulting fees from FTX Digital Markets when unsuccessfully campaigning to represent New York's 1st Congressional District. Read more: FTX's Bahamas unit paid co-CEO's MAGA Republican congressional candidate girlfriend $400,000

☆ FTX Digital Executive Warned of Client Fund Transfers to Alameda, Documents Show
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Jonathan Randles | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A top executive of FTX’s Bahamas subsidiary warned that country’s securities authority days before the company filed for bankruptcy Nov. 11 of customer fund transfers to Alameda Research, a cryptocurrency trading firm tied to FTX, according to documents made public Wednesday. The warning prompted the regulator to immediately seek a criminal investigation, according to the documents. Securities Commission Executive Director Christina Rolle requested that the financial crimes unit of the Royal Bahamas Police Force open an investigation into the subsidiary, FTX Digital Markets Ltd., the same day based on the warning of FTX Digital Chairman Ryan Salame.

FTX attorney James Bromley told Dorsey that the Bahamian government has previously obtained information from FTX Digital Market's liquidators and used it to siphon digital assets away from FTX. The Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB) has previously disputed FTX's "misstatements" about the Bahamian government's response to FTX's collapse. Chris Shore, an attorney for the Bahamas-based liquidators, told Dorsey that the liquidators were not working at the direction of the Bahamian government. Dorsey began the hearing by asking whether FTX and the Bahamas liquidators could reach a compromise on data sharing before Bromley shot that suggestion down. "Unlike the Chapter 11 process, there is no transparency in the process in the Bahamas," Ray said.

Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York charged the disgraced crypto executive with eight criminal counts: conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud, individual charges of securities fraud and wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to avoid campaign finance regulations. "This is really just old fashioned embezzlement. Old school, old school." The Senate Banking Committee had also asked Bankman-Fried to testify at a Wednesday hearing that he previously refused to attend. Ryan Salame, the co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, donated another $23 million, with the majority of his contributions heading toward Republicans.

☆ FTX owned $256 million of Bahamas real estate including 15 condos in the same building, and the government wants it back
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bahamian regulators are trying to claim $256 million of real estate owned by FTX. Court documents filed on Monday show that FTX owns 35 properties, including 15 multi-million dollar condos in the same building. The most expensive property in the documents is worth $30 million, suggesting that the Bahamas is trying to claim Bankman-Fried's apartment. At One Cable Beach — another luxury community where FTX owns four properties — apartment plans on the same floor show a nearly 3,000 sq-ft home with a wraparound balcony. The company was only used to hold Bahamas real estate, and "has no assets here, no creditors here, and it never has done business here."

☆ Bahamas attorneys file emergency motion in FTX case for access to databases with client information
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Attorneys in the Bahamas filed an emergency motion on Friday asking a Delaware bankruptcy judge to compel U.S. leaders of failed crypto firm FTX to give them access to databases as part of the proceedings. The emergency motion claims that despite "many attempts to obtain access," FTX employees and counsel have stymied Bahamian regulators in their effort to get critical financial information located in Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Portal databases. They're seeking data on FTX international customers that is stored on AWS servers, including "wallet addresses, customer balances, deposit and withdrawal records, trades, and accounting data." FTX filed for bankruptcy protection last month after a liquidity crunch at the crypto exchange, which was intermingling assets with sister hedge fund Alameda Research. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who had an estimated net worth of $16 billion before the collapse, will appear before U.S. lawmakers next week.

☆ House Financial Services Chair Waters doesn't plan to subpoena Sam Bankman-Fried to testify at hearing on FTX collapse
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters told Democrats she doesn't plan to subpoena former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to testify at Tuesday's hearing about the crypto exchange's rapid demise, according to people with direct knowledge of the conversation. Those at the meeting say Waters said she wants committee staff try to convince Bankman-Fried to voluntarily testify, those with knowledge of the meeting said. As of late Wednesday, Bankman-Fried has yet to agree to voluntarily testify to the House committee, two of the people explained. Waters invited Bankman-Fried to voluntarily testify before the panel and could always change her mind and subpoena him before Tuesday. John Jay Ray III, the new FTX CEO, is scheduled to testify at next week's House hearing.

☆ Bahamian Attorney General Defends Handling of FTX Collapse
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Amrith Ramkumar | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

FTX Digital Markets Ltd. planned on building new headquarters in the Bahamas before the cryptocurrency exchange imploded. The Bahamian attorney general defended the island nation’s actions during the collapse of FTX Digital Markets Ltd. and urged patience while authorities investigate the embattled cryptocurrency exchange. In a national address late Sunday, Ryan Pinder disputed recent statements made by FTX’s new chief executive and lawyers in U.S. Bankruptcy Court questioning whether Bahamian regulators had the authority to take control of the local FTX subsidiary’s assets around the time of its bankruptcy earlier this month. He said they did have the right to do so under local laws and did so to protect customers and creditors.

☆ FTX remains focus of 'active' investigation, Bahamas attorney general says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Nov 27 (Reuters) - Collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX remains the subject of "an active and ongoing investigation" by Bahamian authorities, Bahamian Attorney General Ryan Pinder said on Sunday, as he praised the Bahamas' regulatory regime and swiftness with which it responded to the crisis. FTX, which had been among the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, is headquartered in the Bahamas. In mid-November, the Royal Bahamas Police said that government investigators in the Bahamas were looking at whether any "criminal misconduct occurred." read more"We are in the early stages of an active and ongoing investigation," Pinder said on Sunday, according to prepared remarks for the speech. Bahamas securities regulators had revoked FTX Digital's license and began involuntary liquidation proceedings the day before the U.S. bankruptcy case kicked off.

Lawyers for collapsed crypto exchange FTX said in the company's first bankruptcy hearing on Tuesday that regulators from the Bahamas, where FTX was headquartered, have agreed to consolidate proceedings in Delaware. "What we are dealing with is a different sort of animal," said FTX counsel James Bromley. FTX lawyers confirmed earlier reports that the Southern District of New York's Cyber Crimes unit has begun an investigation into the matter. FTX lawyers have also made reference to cyberattacks, suggesting there were multiple attacks beyond the $477 million hack that occurred shortly after the company entered bankruptcy on Nov. 11. FTX customers had a global presence, but many were based in tax havens.

☆ Collapsed FTX owes nearly $3.1 billion to top 50 creditors
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN Business —Cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which has filed for US bankruptcy court protection, said it owes its 50 biggest creditors nearly $3.1 billion. The exchange owes about $1.45 billion to its top ten creditors, it said in a court filing on Saturday, without naming them. The crypto exchange said on Saturday it has launched a strategic review of its global assets and is preparing for the sale or reorganization of some businesses. FTX’s rapid collapse marked a stunning downfall for one of the biggest and most powerful players in the crypto industry. The Bahamian authorities have also taken control of cryptocurrency assets held by FTX Digital Markets, The Bahamas-based FTX unit that filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection Tuesday.

☆ FTX’s Fight With Bahamas Puts Customers’ Crypto in Limbo
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Alexander Saeedy | Soma Biswas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The collapse of FTX has put its new management at odds with regulators in the Bahamas over who should control billions in sparsely documented cash and cryptocurrency assets that are presently out of customers’ reach. The Securities Commission of the Bahamas last week installed liquidators at the exchange’s Bahamas-based unit FTX Digital Markets Ltd. to recover its assets and deposits from other FTX entities after they ruled it was insolvent. Bahamas regulators said on Thursday they had swept the local subsidiary’s assets to a government-controlled wallet “for safekeeping” and to protect the interests of clients and creditors.

☆ FTX's bankruptcy filings show the situations is much worse than anyone thought. From a million creditors to a stunning lack of oversight, here are the craziest details.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The downfall of crypto exchange FTX has led to a bankruptcy filing that is full of crazy details. From billion dollar loans to accountants in the metaverse, these are the craziest details of the FTX bankruptcy filing. In reality, according to the bankruptcy filing, FTX's crypto holdings have a fair value of just $659,000 as of September 30. FTX didn't have an accounting departmentRay said in the bankruptcy filing that FTX had compromised internal systems, faulty regulatory oversight, and inexperienced and unsophisticated people in charge of the company's finances. "In fact, there could be more than one million creditors in these Chapter 11 Cases," the bankruptcy filing said.

☆ Bahamas regulator says it assumed control of digital assets of FTX
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Nov 17 (Reuters) - The Securities Commission of The Bahamas said on Thursday it has ordered all digital assets of FTX Digital Markets Ltd (FDM) transferred to a digital wallet controlled by the Commission for safekeeping. "Urgent interim regulatory action was necessary to protect the interests of clients and creditors of FDM," the commission said in a statement. Reporting by Ann Maria Shibu in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Bahamas says it directed FTX to move digital assets for 'safekeeping' as the crypto firm plunged into crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Regulators in the Bahamas directed FTX to move digital assets to safeguard them for creditors exposed to the blowup. FTX said in its bankruptcy filing there was "credible evidence" the Bahamian government was "directing unauthorized access" to FTX's systems. FTX and the Bahamas-based unit have filed separate bankruptcy protection petitions in the US. The Commission "took the action of directing the transfer of all digital assets of FTX Digital Markets Ltd. to a digital wallet controlled by the Commission, for safekeeping." FTX Digital Markets is seeking bankruptcy protection in New York under Chapter 15, which is used by foreign companies.

☆ Bahamas regulators confirm they're holding some of FTX's assets
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

FTX has filed for bankruptcy in the US, seeking court protection as it looks for a way to return money to users. Securities regulators in the Bahamas conceded that they ordered the transfer of FTX digital assets from company wallets into their own custody, citing the authority granted to them by the Supreme Court of The Bahamas and challenging FTX's assertion that the U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy processes applied to them. In a press statement Thursday evening, the Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB) said that it had exercised "its powers as a regulator" and directed the transfer of "all digital assets" of FTX Digital Markets, a Bahamian subsidiary of the FTX empire. Crypto research firm Elliptic, however, believes that the $477 million theft reported over this weekend was tied to moves by Bahamian regulators. Statements from both the Bahamas and U.S attorneys suggest "that the "hack" was actually the seizure of FTX assets by the Bahamian government," Elliptic wrote.

☆ An executive at an FTX affiliate threw up when he learnt of the crypto exchange's impending collapse, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

FTX Digital Markets' co-CEO threw up when he learnt of FTX's problems, sources told the WSJ. A former EY senior tax account, Salame joined Alameda in 2019 before helping him set up FTX parent company FTX Trading Ltd. In September 2021 Salame became co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, which describes itself as the Bahamian subsidiary of FTX Trading Ltd. "FTX Digital Markets offers users regulated access to FTX's industry-leading derivatives, options, volatility products, and other FTX products and services," it says on its LinkedIn page. FTX Digital Markets filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday in the Southern District of New York.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried and a company he owns got $3.3 billion in loans from his Alameda trading firm, bankruptcy filing says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Alameda Research lent $3.3 billion to Sam Bankman-Fried and entities he controlled. FTX's bankruptcy filing disclosed a $1 billion loan directly to Bankman-Fried. The other $2.3 billion went to Paper Bird Inc., a company SBF owns a majority stake in. A loan of $1 billion went directly to Bankman-Fried, the filing said, while $2.3 billion went to Paper Bird Inc., which he owns a majority stake in. The bankruptcy filing included numerous stunning revelations about FTX.

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