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☆ Disgraced FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried 'orchestrated yearslong fraud' on investors and customers, SEC and criminal charges say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Marlene Lenthang | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of cryptocurrency giant FTX, defrauded investors by funneling money into his private hedge fund and conspired to commit wire fraud against customers and lenders, federal authorities said Tuesday. The Manhattan panel indicted Bankman-Fried on eight counts: conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers, wire fraud on customers, conspiracy to commit wire fraud on lenders, wire fraud on lenders, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate the campaign finance laws. $8 billion loss to customersThe wire fraud on lenders and customers started in or about 2019 and lasted through November, according to the filing. Separately, in a filing Tuesday also in the Southern District of New York, the SEC charged him with defrauding investors and enriching Alameda. FTX CEO pledges continued cooperationAlso Tuesday, the company’s new CEO, John J. Ray III, testified at a congressional hearing on FTX’s collapse and missteps.

☆ FTX Group CEO John Ray Testifies Before Congress
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Three Ways Democrats Could Overhaul the Debt CeilingHouse Republicans are planning to use the debt ceiling, which will need to be raised in 2023, as leverage to get spending cuts. But Democrats are looking to act now in the lameduck session to prevent that. WSJ explains three things they could do.

☆ Here's how to watch FTX's current CEO testify before Congress — the same hearing ex-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was expected to speak at before his arrest
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The hearing, which was expected to include Sam Bankman-Fried before his arrest, will stream live. FTX Group's current CEO John J. Ray III is scheduled to testify at the panel. The hearing, titled, "Investigating the Collapse of FTX, Part I" was originally expected to feature testimony by both FTX Group's current CEO, John J. Ray III, and its founder and former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, who has indicated plans to appear remotely. Ray III, FTX's current CEO, had some harsh words for Bankman-Fried in his prepared testimony. You can follow along with the House hearing below, which is expected to kick off at 10 a.m. Eastern.

☆ FTX's collapse prompted the largest-ever outflow of bitcoin from crypto exchanges, with investors pulling $1.5 billion last month
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In November, investors pulled nearly $1.5 billion in bitcoin from crypto exchanges. The fallout of FTX's collapse has rocked the crypto market, and November's bitcoin outflows were the highest ever. Meanwhile, in the first week of December, investors pulled 4,545 bitcoin from centralized exchanges, up from 3,846 in the same period in 2021. Former FTX Group CEO Sam Bankman-Fried's downfall has renewed concerns about the safety of user funds held in centralized exchanges. All this has weighed on public confidence in crypto, and traders have grown more wary over security.

☆ CZ says Sam Bankman-Fried was unhinged when Binance pulled out of earlier FTX investment - but SBF shoots back: 'There's no need to lie'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Binance pulled out of its investment deal with FTX over 18 months ago, and CEO CZ said Sam Bankman-Fried was "unhinged." "As an early investor in FTX, we became increasingly uncomfortable with Alameda/SBF," CZ wrote on Twitter. Bankman-Fried responded to CZ with a tweet of his own: "There's no need to lie." Binance became an early investor in FTX three years ago, before later exiting, as CZ noted Friday. In early November, Binance agreed to takeover FTX, which was struggling with a liquidity crisis, but backed off a day later, with CZ later saying FTX was beyond saving.

☆ Sen. Warren demands answers from Silvergate Bank about its business dealings with FTX
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | 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: +13 min

“Life as a crypto firm can be divided up into before Silvergate and after Silvergate,” Bankman-Fried gushed in a testimonial featured recently, and prominently, on Silvergate Bank’s website. But in a conversation with an investment manager, a former top FTX employee said Silvergate was FTX’s primary banking partner. As a regulated bank, Silvergate has a duty to monitor clients’ accounts for suspicious activities that could signal fraud, money laundering or tax evasion, the filings note. FTX frequently used the Silvergate Exchange Network, according to the former FTX employee with direct knowledge of the transactions. A Silvergate spokeswoman said the change reflected a shift in functions taken on by a new president at the bank.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried dismissed ex-staffers' ideas for more rigorous risk controls at Alameda Research, years before its collapse: report
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sam Bankman-Fried dismissed employees' ideas for more rigorous internal controls, WSJ reported. A group of employees left Alameda Research in 2018 amid concerns over Bankman-Fried's cavalier leadership style, per the report. Bankman-Fried told the Journal that employees left the firm due to personal disputes and their lack of productivity. Before founding Alameda, Bankman-Fried had worked at Jane Street Capital, a tightly controlled quantitative trading firm. In 2018 documents viewed by the Journal, Bankman-Fried does acknowledge Alameda's shortfalls, and how they led to trading losses.

☆ Collapsed crypto exchange FTX to resume salary payments
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 28 (Reuters) - Crypto exchange FTX and its affiliated companies, which have filed for U.S. bankruptcy court protection, said on Monday most subsidiaries would resume ordinary course payment of salary and benefits to employees worldwide. The relief includes cash payments with respect to both pre-petition and post-petition periods, subject to limits established by the orders of the Bankruptcy Court. FTX on Nov. 11 filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection, along with its U.S. unit, crypto trading firm Alameda Research and nearly 130 other affiliates. The collapse has fanned fears about the future of the crypto industry and several crypto firms have since been bracing for a fallout. Earlier on Monday, BlockFi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, after the crypto lender was hurt by exposure to FTX.

☆ Bankman-Fried's FTX, senior staff, parents bought Bahamas property worth $300 mln
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Koh Gui Qing | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] View of the entrance to the condominium complex ONE Cable Beach, a beachfront residence in New Providence, Bahamas, November 18, 2022. The deeds show these properties, bought by a unit of FTX, were to be used as "residence for key personnel" of the company. PROPERTY PURCHASESReuters searched property records at the Bahamas Registrar General's Department for FTX, Bankman-Fried, his parents and some of the company's key executives. FTX Property Holdings Ltd, an FTX unit, bought 15 properties worth nearly $100 million in 2021 and 2022. The property records for the penthouse, dated March 17, were signed by Ryan Salame, the president of FTX Property, and showed it was intended as "residence for key personnel."

☆ EXCLUSIVE Bankman-Fried's FTX, parents bought Bahamas property worth $121 mln
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Koh Gui Qing | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The deeds show these properties, bought by a unit of FTX, were to be used as "residence for key personnel" of the company. Reuters could not determine the source of funds that FTX and its executives used to buy these properties. PROPERTY PURCHASESReuters searched property records at the Bahamas Registrar General's Department for FTX, Bankman-Fried, his parents and some of the company's key executives. FTX Property Holdings Ltd, an FTX unit, bought 15 properties worth nearly $100 million in 2021 and 2022. The property records for the penthouse, dated March 17, were signed by Ryan Salame, the president of FTX Property, and showed it was intended as "residence for key personnel."

☆ Investors flock to short crypto funds, products as negative sentiment deepens -CoinShares
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Crypto products and funds saw inflows of $44 million, as of the week ended Nov. 18, but 75% of those flows represented investments in short crypto products, data showed. The total assets under management have plunged to $22 billion, the lowest in two years, CoinShares said. FTX filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States more than a week ago in the highest-profile crypto implosion to date. CoinShares data also showed that bitcoin posted inflows of $14 million, but when offset by inflows into short investment products, the net flows were a negative $4.3 million. Investors poured in record inflows to short-Ethereum products of $14 million.

☆ Collapsed crypto exchange FTX owes top 50 creditors over $3 billion, new filing says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Embattled cryptocurrency exchange FTX owes its creditors north of $3 billion, according to a new filing over the weekend. A list of FTX's top 50 unsecured creditors, which excludes their names and other identifiable information, shows that the largest of them all is owed more than $226 million. FTX may have more than 1 million creditors, according to an earlier bankruptcy filing. FTX's disgraced founder Sam Bankman-Fried stepped down as CEO earlier this month as the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Bank of England Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe said the FTX debacle has added greater impetus for regulators to act on crypto.

☆ Lower valuations, regulatory crackdowns, and a push for DeFi: 5 VCs break down their crypto-market outlooks after FTX's swift downfall
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

FTX, the crypto exchange once worth $32 billion, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Nov 11. FTX, the crypto exchange reportedly worth $32 billion in February, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Nov. 11. A regulatory crackdown and the bull case for DeFiInsider asked five venture investors about their biggest takeaways from the fallout. "First, the crypto market is being de-leveraged, which paves the way for the next upturn. Risks of FTX's downfall could have been mitigated with a "hands on approach" by venture investors.

☆ 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.

☆ The unbelievably fast world of Caroline Ellison where 'someone suggests something' then 'an hour later and it's already happened'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In a 2020 FTX podcast, former Alameda Research CEO said she "took a blind leap into the unknown" when she joined Sam Bankman-Fried. WSJ first reported on the remarks, after Ellison has drawn increased scrutiny for her role in the demise of FTX. According to WSJ, critics of the practice say effective altruism encourages excessive risk-taking. "The general idea of effective altruism is trying to do the most good you can and using expected value to measure that good," Ellison explained on the FTX podcast. Ellison was asked about her plans of saving money for future retirement after explaining effective altruism in the 2020 podcast episode.

☆ FTX fires three of its top executives - WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 18 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which recently filed for U.S. bankruptcy court protection, has fired three of its top executives, including co-founder Gary Wang, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing an FTX spokeswoman. The other fired executives were engineering director Nishad Singh and Caroline Ellison, who ran FTX's trading arm Alameda Research, the newspaper said. read moreThe U.S. bankruptcy proceedings involve multiple FTX group companies with more than 100,000, and possibly over 1 million, creditors. read moreThe company had come under some regulatory oversight through the dozens of licenses it picked up via its many acquisitions. Several crypto firms have since been bracing for the fallout from the FTX collapse, with many counting their exposure in millions to the beleaguered exchange.

☆ Caroline Ellison, one of the central figures behind FTX's collapse, previously tweeted that regularly using amphetamines made the 'non-medicated' life seem 'dumb'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ellison is the CEO of Alameda Research, the hedge fund FTX reportedly used to borrow money for bets. In a 2021 tweet posted by Ellison, who is also the reported ex-girlfriend of FTX's disgraced founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, references regularly using amphetamines and how "dumb" the "non-medicated human experience" can be. Alameda Research filed for bankruptcy in early November along with other FTX Group-linked entities after failing to secure emergency funding. Although Bankman-Fried founded Alameda, Ellison has since emerged as an integral character in its demise. As the CEO of Alameda, Ellison has garnered scrutiny for her role in FTX borrowing money from customer accounts, CNN reported.

☆ 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.

☆ This is what kind of legal trouble FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried could now face, based on details from the crypto exchange's latest bankruptcy filing
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

FTX's bankruptcy filing shed new light on potential legal trouble for the crypto exchange and its former execs. New CEO John J. Ray III delivered a blistering assessment, calling FTX's implosion " a complete failure of corporate controls." Read some of the most incendiary parts of the bankruptcy filing and what experts say it all might mean. Sign up for our newsletter for the latest tech news and scoops — delivered daily to your inbox. "The appointment of the Directors will provide the FTX Group with appropriate corporate governance for the first time."

☆ Morning Bid: Cat, mouse and 5%
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan. The cat-and-mouse game between the Fed and financial markets has intensified around 5% peak interest rates next year as next week's Thanksgiving holiday hoves into view. In Europe, the euro , euro bond yields and bank stocks (.SX7P) climbed on Friday as the European Central Bank prepared for the start the biggest withdrawal of cash from the euro zone's banking system in its short history. The crypto world continued to lick its wounds amid unfolding revelations and reverberations surrounding the collapse of exchange FTX. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Twitter's blue tick helps media trustworthiness, EU's Vestager says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Bankrupt FTX's new CEO outlines fund abuses, untrustworthy records, article with videoTechnology category · November 18, 2022 · 2:04 AM UTCThe executive hired to steer FTX Group through bankruptcy offered his first findings of improper fund transfers and poor accounting at the collapsed crypto exchange, describing it as a "complete failure" of controls.

☆ Morning Bid: Tough Fed talk
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A look at the day ahead in markets from Anshuman DagaWhile Fed speakers talk tough on interest rates and keep market expectations in check, Britain's bleak outlook will also weigh on UK assets. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said that even under a "generous" analysis of monetary policy, the Fed needs to keep raising interest rates given that its tightening so far "had only limited effects on observed inflation." For now, it does look like recent market enthusiasm about a short period of rising rates on signs of slower inflation was misplaced. This came a day after the country's budget forecasters warned Britain faced a record hit to living standards this year, battered by surging inflation. On the corporate front, Francesco De Ferrari, who heads Credit Suisse's (CSGN.S) wealth management business, told Reuters he is targeting growth markets, high net worth clients and technology to fuel the fortunes of the embattled Swiss bank.

The new CEO of FTX issued a searing indictment of the company’s operations Thursday in a court filing as part of the company’s ongoing bankruptcy process. New CEO and restructuring officer John Ray wrote that the company had a striking lack of financial records, internal communications or even a clear idea of who worked there. Bankman-Fried and FTX did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Throughout his filing, Ray insisted that the financial records of the organizations overseen by Bankman-Fried are frequently either nonexistent or untrustworthy. “One of the most pervasive failures of the FTX.com business in particular is the absence of lasting records of decision-making,” Ray said.

☆ FTX's new CEO blasted Sam Bankman-Fried over 'a complete failure of corporate controls' in a scathing bankruptcy filing
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

FTX's new CEO issued scathing remarks about Sam Bankman-Fried in a bankruptcy filing on Thursday. He cited "inexperienced" execs, auto-deleting messages, and "a complete failure of corporate controls." Ray said that FTX "did not keep appropriate books and records, or security controls, with respect to its digital assets." Ray said that many companies in the FTX Group also lacked "appropriate corporate governance," with some of the entities never holding board meetings. FTX Group had "unclear records and lines of responsibility" related to its staff and contractors, Ray wrote.

☆ Singapore's Temasek writes down $275 million in FTX, calls belief in Sam Bankman-Fried 'misplaced'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Diksha Madhok | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New Delhi CNN Business —Singapore has become the latest backer of crypto exchange FTX to admit being burned by its spectacular collapse. FTX Group abruptly filed for bankruptcy in the United States last Friday when its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, resigned as CEO. This “write down of our investment in FTX will not have significant impact on our overall performance,” Temasek said in the statement. Last week, investor Sequoia Capital said it had marked the value of its FTX stake down to $0. Last week, crypto lending platform BlockFi said it was pausing customer withdrawals.

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