A former FTX employee has revealed details regarding the lavish expenditures of the exchange as well as its intense company culture.
Crypto Twitter explodes over the news of Sam Bankman-Fried’s arrest
US politicians, crypto execs, and influencers fired up their Twitter apps upon learning of Sam Bankman-Fried’s arrest in The Bahamas.
Sam Bankman-Fried reveals the circumstances behind Bahamian withdrawals
The former FTX CEO has explained why the exchange only reopened withdrawals for Bahamian citizens shortly before filing for bankruptcy.
FTX resumes paying staff and contractors after weeks in limbo
The payments will exclude former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, and certain former execs including Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, and Alameda’s Caroline Ellison.
FTX under ‘active’ civil and criminal investigation: Bahamas AG
Bahamian Securities Commission, the Prime Minister’s financial intelligence unit, and a financial crimes unit are all involved in the FTX investigation.
Recent FTX hacks prove it was right to ‘secure’ its assets: Bahamian regulator
The Securities Commission of The Bahamas said the continued hacking attempts on FTX prove it made the right call to “secure” FTX’s digital assets.
Crypto sleuth debunks 3 biggest misconceptions about the FTX hack
Blockchain detective ZachXBT has provided evidence refuting recent speculation about the identity of the FTX hacker and their supposed memecoin activity.
Did The Bahamas’ Securities Commission Take Control of FTX’s Assets? They Did
The Bahamas struck first and struck hard. Yesterday, there were rumors going around that their government was pressuring Sam Bankman-Fried to give them control of FTX’s assets. What sounded like a bizarre story, today is more than confirmed. The Securities Commission of The Bahamas released an official document announcing the takeover. Of course, they did it to protect the interests of FTX’s clients. It was urgent.
The document began:
“On 12 November 2022, the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (“the Commission”), in the exercise of its powers as regulator acting under the authority of an Order made by the Supreme Court of The Bahamas, took the action of directing the transfer of all digital assets of FTX Digital Markets Ltd. (“FDM”) 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.”
To accomplish that, The Bahamas completely ignored the bankruptcy procedures opened in the United States. “It is not the understanding of the Commission that FDM is a party to the US Chapter 11 Bankruptcy proceedings,” the Securities Commission of The Bahamas said bluntly. And then, they took control of the situation. “Over the coming days and weeks, the Commission will engage with other regulators and authorities, in multiple jurisdictions, to address matters affecting the creditors, clients and stakeholders.”
In case anyone doubts it, The Bahamas clarifies that “The Commission is responsible for the administration of the Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges Act.”
FTT price chart for 11/18/2022 on FTX | Source: FTT/USD on TradingView.com
FTX’s New Management Warned About The Bahamas Intentions
Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal reported on FTX’s new management’s concerns with The Bahamas government’s intentions.
“Lawyers for FTX’s new management also said in court papers that the government of the Bahamas is disrupting the exchange’s chapter 11 case, filed last week in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The papers escalate a budding dispute for control of FTX’s insolvency proceedings between its U.S. management and securities regulators in the Bahamas.”
At the time, who would’ve thought that The Bahamas was going to move that fast? Maybe we should have, because on that same article the WSJ informed us that “The Securities Commission tapped lawyer Brian Simms KC to oversee the liquidation of FTX”. Plus, “a Bahamian court approved Mr. Simms’s appointment on Thursday”. And on Tuesday, Simms “filed a chapter 15 petition in U.S.” What is a chapter 15, and what does it imply? Back to the article:
“The chapter 15 filing, if successful, could move at least a portion of FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings to courts in the Bahamas. Mr. Simms said Tuesday in a sworn declaration the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas has sole jurisdiction over FTX Digital and other entities operated from the company’s “substantial office complex” in Nassau, Bahamas.”
Now that the government of The Bahamas apparently took possession of the assets, the U.S doesn’t seem to have a choice but to work with them.
Conspiracy Theory Time
Is Sam Bankman-Fried working with the government of The Bahamas on this? Among the rumors that circulated yesterday, there was one that said that he was being forced to “hack” into FTX and surrender custody of the assets. Plus, Bankman-Fried recently said that filling for Chapter 11 in the US was his biggest mistake so far. Could he be trying to revert the operation with the help of the government of The Bahamas? Something to ponder.
Featured Image by Rinald Rolle on Unsplash | Charts by TradingView
Bahamian securities regulator ordered the transfer of FTX’s digital assets
The Bahamian securities regulator clarified it directed FTX to move its digital assets to a wallet owned by the commission on Nov. 12.
Bahamian liquidators reject validity of FTX’s US bankruptcy filing
The provisional liquidator overseeing the FTX Digital Markets bankruptcy proceedings says FTX wasn’t authorized to file for bankruptcy in the U.S without his approval.