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☆ Sam Bankman-Fried urges crypto investors to put their money in exchanges that don't do business like FTX
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sam Bankman-Fried said that crypto investors should look for "all the things I wish FTX had been able to supply" when depositing their funds. He called on exchanges to provide proof of reserves and regulatory reporting of assets and liabilities. Sign up for our newsletter to get the inside scoop on what traders are talking about — delivered daily to your inbox. "If I were a customer here, which is look for the things that I wish FTX had been able to supply." Read more: Sam Bankman-Fried said he doesn't think he's criminally liable for FTX's implosion, but that his lawyers don't want him speaking publicly

☆ 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.

☆ SBF won’t shut up, and it’s driving lawyers mad
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

SBF has repeatedly admitted that he “f—ked up.” He has apologized on Twitter and in a letter to staff. “What SBF is doing is a form of litigation suicide,” Howard Fischer, a former Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer tells me. SBF resigned as CEO when his crypto exchange, FTX, declared bankruptcy on November 11. Ray sought to make clear that SBF does not speak for FTX or its affiliates. (And no, I don’t mean extra sick days — I mean any sick days, which workers currently have to take unpaid).

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday questioned whether an ex-aide to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was lawfully convicted on a bribery charge as it considered narrowing the scope of a federal law aimed at curbing public corruption. Percoco says that because he was not working for the government at the time, he had no duty to provide honest services. The court on Monday is also hearing a second case arising from the same New York corruption investigation. Several others targeted in the investigation, including Aiello, have their own appeals pending at the Supreme Court.

☆ The Bahamas has hit out at 'extremely regrettable' criticism from FTX's new CEO after the Nassau-based crypto giant collapsed
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

After FTX went bankrupt, the Bahamas suspended its license and took control of its digital assets. The Bahamas attorney general accused the FTX CEO of "inaccurate allegations" in his court filings. After the crypto exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried entered bankruptcy earlier in November, the Bahamas suspended FTX's license and took control of its digital assets by transferring them into a government crypto wallet. Ray is also known for acting as CEO for energy giant Enron, and handled its liquidation after accounting fraud. FTX's bankruptcy has led to calls for tighter crypto regulations from both US senators and the Bank of England.

Distressed crypto firm BlockFi has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey following the implosion of putative acquirer FTX. Like FTX, BlockFi also has a Bahamian subsidiary. BlockFi's bankruptcy filing shows that the company's largest disclosed client has a balance of nearly $28 million. The company started talking with restructuring professionals in the days after FTX's bankruptcy filing, according to people familiar with the matter. Approximately 130 additional affiliated companies are part of the proceedings, including Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried's crypto trading firm, and FTX.us, the company's U.S. subsidiary.

☆ Crypto startup MoonPay hires Time president to lead its enterprise business
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Riley De León | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

In this article LTH Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTKeith Grossman, Time president TIMEPieces Artist Jeremy CowartTime president Keith Grossman is leaving the legacy publisher to take on a new role as the president of enterprise at crypto startup MoonPay, effective December 31. Before his three-plus years at Time, Grossman had held leadership posts at major publishers including Bloomberg and Condé Nast-owned Wired. "I think it's important to separate a bad actor from an industry," Grossman said of the FTX fallout. Crypto's confidence crisisIn the 12 months since bitcoin topped out at over $68,000, the crypto industry, once valued at roughly $3 trillion, has fallen to around $900 billion. Enterprise adoption has been fueling this belief, with companies including Nike , McDonald's , Adidas and Starbucks launching their own NFT collections.

☆ Elon Musk says Stephen King is 'one of most creative people on Earth' despite the author calling him a 'terrible fit' for Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk tweeted on Sunday that Stephen King is "one of the most creative people on Earth." It followed King's tweet commending Musk's Tesla work but calling him a "terrible fit" for Twitter. Musk went on to tweet he would welcome suggestions from the author on running Twitter. King tweeted on Saturday: "I think Elon Musk is a visionary. The following day, podcast host Graham Allen told Musk over Twitter to ignore King.

☆ Elon Musk wants paid subscribers to account for 50% of Twitter's revenue, but half of its users won't pay to use the site, data shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk wants subscriptions to account for 50% of Twitter's total revenue. Many users say they won't pay for the service, however, according to a survey. Musk has said he wants subscriptions to account for 50% of Twitter's total revenue, according to a message by a VP on an internal company slack. The firm polled 2,063 US adults, 1,212 of which were Twitter users, from October 20 to October 28, the week Musk took over the company. The now-suspended Twitter Blue subscription had around 140,000 paying subscribers as of November 15, according to data published by The New York Times.

☆ The former co-CEO of Sam Bankman-Fried's Alameda crypto trading firm was a risk-loving, poker-playing gambler
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Alameda's former co-CEO used poker and blackjack strategies in crypto trading, Bloomberg reported. Tweets and public comments by Sam Trabucco indicate the former Alameda executive employed poker and blackjack strategies in crypto trading, according to the Bloomberg report. Trabucco frequently revealed how much he applied what he learned from his time at card tables to the crypto market, Bloomberg reported. According to the report, Trabucco in January 2021 said Alameda employed risky bets in the firm's business. FTX may have more than a million creditors and Ray slammed its operations in FTX's bankruptcy filings.

☆ How a CoinDesk scoop led to the fall of Sam Bankman-Fried and implosion of FTX
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Allison had obtained a financial document that showed 30-year-old SBF had engaged in shady behavior to use his crypto company, FTX, to prop up his separate investment firm, Alameda. That he didn’t say a thing.”That silence was likely because SBF knew CoinDesk had uncovered something big. After the scoop, SBF’s chief competitor, Binance, suggested it would rescue the company through an acquisition. But in a second major scoop that led to FTX’s implosion, Allison learned that the crucial deal would not happen. “It was definitely a cold hands [moment] — not because I thought [the scoop] was wrong, but because I knew it was right.

☆ FTX Hires Ex-Regulators to Investigate Firm’s Collapse
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Mengqi Sun | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX, whose recent collapse has led to questions about lacking regulatory oversight, has hired a fitting team to help untangle the mess: former senior U.S. regulators. FTX said this week it has been in contact with investigators, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. FTX, which is based in the Bahamas, also has hired Nardello & Co., an investigations firm that specializes in anti-corruption and fraud cases, Mr. Bromley said in court Tuesday. The name of the cybersecurity company wasn’t disclosed because of concerns over continuing cyberattacks on FTX, he said. The collapse of FTX has set off the largest crypto-related bankruptcy ever, and court filings are already shedding light on what went wrong and how complicated things could get.

☆ FTX's bankruptcy hearing is underway and the details are wild. Here's what to know.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

FTX kicked off its bankruptcy hearing on Tuesday, and the initial statements give Sam Bankman-Fried and company little to cheer. James Bromley, counsel to FTX's new management, had choice words during the first day in the Delaware hearing. Ray and his new management team's estimate of FTX's cash holdings has nearly doubled, a Saturday filing showed. In the letter, seen by the Financial Times, Bankman-Fried said excessive borrowing by Alameda Research was responsible for FTX's collapse. Elon Musk's EV maker has seen its market cap plunge from a high of $1.2 trillion.

☆ 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.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried tries to broker FTX bailout from his home in the Bahamas, despite being booted from the crypto company
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Kate Rooney | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

NASSAU, Bahamas — Despite being pushed out of the cryptocurrency giant he founded, Sam Bankman-Fried told CNBC he is trying to lock down a multibillion-dollar deal to bail out FTX, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month. I hate what happened and deeply wish that I had been more careful," Bankman-Fried told CNBC. Despite losing access to his corporate email and all company systems, Bankman-Fried maintains that he can play a role in the next steps. Venture capital investors have told CNBC the 30-year-old had been calling to try and secure funding in recent weeks. On Saturday, Ray said the crypto company is looking to sell or restructure its global empire.

☆ 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.

Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX’s 30-year-old founder, became the face of the company and, to some, crypto at large. The first red flagsNot long after Bankman-Fried started FTX, crypto began to boom. Venture capital money flooded into all things blockchain and crypto, and crypto platforms moved to attract customers beyond the technologists and blockchain evangelists that once fueled its rise. These digital tokens use blockchain technology, in which computers contribute to a shared ledger that can be used to track digital assets. Graeme Sloan / Sipa USA via APThe Wall Street Journal and CNBC, also citing anonymous sources, reported that Alameda had used FTX funds for trading.

☆ 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.

☆ Wall Street finally has the leverage it's been wanting over Big Tech
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Matt Weinberger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Take one giant step back, and there's one group benefitting from all the tech carnage: Wall Street investors, who finally have leverage over Big Tech after years of having to swallow spending to excess. Wall Street is ready to slice and dice. The balance of power has shifted: With tech companies struggling on the public markets, Wall Street has more leverage than it's held in a long time. Read more about how Wall Street is taking the driver's seat in tech here. Their mutual interest is complicated by fights over licensing and costs, Insider reports here.

☆ One of Wall Street's toughest shops isn't for the faint of heart. But the rewards are plenty for those who make it to the top.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Apollo Global Management; Yahoo; Brightspeed; Legendary; Alyssa Powell/Insider1. That, in a nutshell, is life at Apollo Global Management. The firm works on a points system that could most easily be described as a profit-share system, Casey told me. In other news:France's Kylian Mbappe celebrates with the trophy after winning the World Cup REUTERS / Kai Pfaffenbach2. You're not just watching the World Cup.

☆ FTX: Inside the crypto giant's downfall
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Crypto contagionThe crypto industry is on edge, waiting for the next dominoes to fall. Soon after FTX went down, crypto firms were inundated requests from customers seeking to claw their money back — the crypto equivalent of a run on the bank. The pain isn’t confined to crypto companies. SBF had become a fixture in Washington, too, where he regularly traveled to lobby lawmakers for greater regulatory clarity for the crypto industry. “It’s about fraud and the power of virtue signaling.”He added: “This scandal, far from destroying crypto, practically ensures that crypto will be around for a long, long time.”

☆ 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.

☆ FTX employees were claiming expenses through online chat and random managers used emojis to approve them, new CEO says in bankruptcy filings
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

FTX employees claimed expenses through chat messages, its new CEO said. Random managers would then approve the official claims by using personalized emojis, John Ray added. In his damning report, Ray said FTX failed to keep communication, hiring, and financial records. New CEO John Ray said FTX employees submitted payment requests to a "disparate group of supervisors," who would approve expenses "by responding with personalized emojis," FTX's Thursday bankruptcy filing shows. Ray said FTX "never had board meetings" and that the exchange used employees' personal names to purchase real estate in the Bahamas with corporate funds.

FTX suffered a “complete failure of corporate controls” that culminated in an “unprecedented” debacle, its new chief executive said. In a filing to federal bankruptcy court, John J. Ray , who has helped oversee some of the biggest bankruptcies ever, including Enron’s, said he’s never seen anything as bad in 40 years of restructuring firms.

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.

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