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The exemption allowed Alameda to keep borrowing funds from FTX irrespective of the value of the collateral securing those loans. The other was a mechanism whereby FTX customers deposited over $8 billion in traditional currency into bank accounts secretly controlled by Alameda. Indeed, he told investors that Alameda received no preferential treatment from FTX, the SEC complaint said. This would allow Alameda to keep borrowing more FTX funds without the need to provide more collateral. Bankman-Fried's house of cards "began to crumble" in May 2022, the SEC complaint said.

New York CNN —FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was indicted on eight criminal charges including wire fraud and conspiracy by misusing customer funds, according to an indictment from the US Attorney of the Southern District of New York. Separately Tuesday, US markets regulators charged Bankman-Fried with defrauding investors and customers in his failed crypto exchange FTX. The Securities and Exchange Commission said Bankman-Fried, “orchestrated a years-long fraud” to conceal from FTX investors the diversion of customer funds to Alameda Research, his crypto-trading hedge fund. Star athletes and celebrities who backed FTX also reportedly received a stake in the company, including Tom Brady and Gisele. That meant there was no meaningful distinction between FTX customer funds and Alameda’s funds that Bankman-Fried used as his “personal piggy bank,” the complaint says.

☆ Premarket stocks: Betting on a market bounce? You may be waiting a while
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

New York CNN —‘Tis the season for Wall Street strategists to pack their clients’ inboxes with market predictions for 2023. Market analysts aren’t alone. “US equity returns will be driven by earnings against a backdrop characterized by elevated market volatility,” write JPMorgan analysts. The effort was initially touted as a “Big Bang 2.0” — a nod to the rapid deregulation of UK financial markets under former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1986. The changes are a bid to maintain London’s role as a global financial hub after Brexit, which, alongside political turmoil, has boosted uncertainty for companies thinking about where to invest.

If Celsius deposits are determined to belong to customers, users are far more likely to get their assets returned. Crypto companies typically offer a variety of accounts and they will likely be treated differently in bankruptcy. BlockFi, which is at the beginning of its own bankruptcy case, also offers both interest-bearing and custody accounts. 'WORSE THAN BANKS'Courts will also have to look beyond the user agreements and examine how crypto companies actually handled the deposits, according to bankruptcy specialists. “This is going to have enormous influence on crypto companies and crypto customer behavior."

☆ 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.

☆ Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried says he didn't 'try to commit fraud'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Elizabeth Napolitano | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

A growing number of regulators are investigating Bankman-Fried and his former company, and the fallout from the collapse of FTX is only expanding. The broader industry consequences also continue to play out, with the crypto firm BlockFi filing for bankruptcy last week. Days after the CoinDesk report, FTX rival Binance announced it would sell its FTX holdings, setting off a bank-run-style rush of withdrawals. What matters here are the stakeholders in FTX," Bankman-Fried said. Bankman-Fried and his associates greenlighted lavish expenditures, including $300 million for real estate purchases in the Bahamas for FTX and Alameda employees, according to filings from current FTX attorneys.

☆ FTX flop evokes history’s great financial swindles
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Edward Chancellor | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

As Walter Bagehot wrote in “Lombard Street” in 1873, “The good times too of high price almost always engender much fraud. As cryptocurrencies declined in value, FTX provided a line of credit to BlockFi, a stricken crypto-lender. He talked about Three Arrows Capital, the failed crypto hedge fund, as engaged in “punting”. His firm launched a product based on a basket of crypto assets that it called Shitcoin Index Perpetual Futures, with the unsubtle ticker SHIT-PERP. He commissioned an advertisement, aired during the Super Bowl, in which the comedian Larry David casts doubt on the viability of FTX.

☆ Elizabeth Warren demands Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX turn over trove of records
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Elizabeth Warren and Dick Durbin are demanding FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried hand over a trove of documents that will shed light on the extraordinary and swift downfall of his crypto exchange. “Billions of dollars worth of investor funds seem to have disappeared into the ether,” Warren and Durbin wrote. The committee said it expects to hear from the companies and individuals involved, including Bankman-Fried. That Reuters report said Bankman-Fried used this “backdoor” to transfer $10 billion in FTX customer funds to Alameda, the hedge fund, and at least $1 billion is now missing. Warren and Durbin ask in their letter if Bankman-Fried did in fact use a “backdoor” to transfer FTX customer funds and, if so, who else knew about it.

☆ FTX files for bankrupcty as CEO resigns
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

FTX said Sam Bankman-Fried, the 30-year-old founder of the exchange, will remain to assist in an orderly transition. Both the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating FTX, The Wall Street Journal reported. Bankman-Fried has been one of the faces of the crypto industry, amassing a fortune once totaling $25 billion that has since vanished. The implosion of FTX was preceded by the decision to lend billions of dollars’ worth of customer assets to fund risky bets by Alameda, the Journal reported on Thursday. Alameda now owes FTX a staggering $10 billion that the exchange had serious trouble raising, the paper said.

Consumer price increases eased to 7.7% in October, a sign that the persistent inflation that has plagued the U.S. economy is showing glimmers of cooling off, even as it remains near four-decade highs. By raising interest rates, the central bank hopes it can make it more costly to borrow and invest, thereby cooling off further price increases. Data show that both home prices and rents are on the decline, though there are often lags before they show up in official data. But the inflation rate remains far above the Fed's 2% target, meaning aggressive actions by the central bank are likely to continue. He added: “Despite a half-dozen interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, any broad-based, significant, and sustained easing of inflation pressures remains elusive.”

☆ Markets won’t go back to normal until the Fed stops hiking rates
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

What’s happening: Markets and the Federal Reserve have conflicting temperaments, said Blinder. Markets are capricious while the Fed remains calm. Markets on average, said Blinder, overreact to inflation-related data by a factor of three to 10 times more than they should. The central bank announced Monday that it would provide extra support to UK markets, beefing up its efforts to ensure financial stability, reports my colleague Julia Horowitz. The research is especially relevant today as rapid interest rate hikes to combat inflation have sent markets into turmoil, drawing comparisons to 2008.

☆ Walmart enters the metaverse with Roblox experiences
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Walmart (WMT) has entered the metaverse. The retail giant announced Monday it is launching two immersive online experiences with Roblox, a metaverse mega-platform extremely popular with young kids. Its virtual dressing room offers products such as afp4, Halsey’s makeup brand, and YouTubers Brooklyn and Bailey’s skincare line with Walmart. Roblox began trading last March, immediately valuing the company at $45 billion when it debuted on Wall Street. Despite the buzz around the metaverse, Roblox shares have dropped almost 64% year-to-date.

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