ftx
SBF signs extradition papers, set to return to face charges in the US
Sam Bankman-Fried, the jailed founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange has reportedly signed papers on Dec. 20 that will soon see him handed over to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents and flown to the United States to face criminal charges. The move was expected, as Bankman-Fried was reported to have agreed in principle to being extradited to the U.S. earlier this week on Dec. 19, despite earlier reports indicating he wanted to see the indictment against him fir ABC News reported the development that Bankman-Fried signed extradition papers on Dec. 20 citing The Bahamas’ acting commissioner of corrections Doan Cleare. A Dec. 21 report from Bloomberg said the exchange founder signed surrender documents on Dec. 20 citing Cleare, with another set of papers waiving h...
BlockFi files motion to return frozen crypto to wallet users
Bankrupt crypto lending platform BlockFi has filed a motion requesting authority from a United States bankruptcy court to allow its users to withdraw digital assets currently locked up in BlockFi wallets. In a motion filed on Dec. 19 with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District of New Jersey, the lender asked the court for authority to honor client withdrawals from wallet accounts that have been frozen on the platform since Nov. 10. The court documents also request permission to update the user interface to properly reflect transactions as of the platform’s pause. In a widely shared email sent to affected users, BlockFi called the motion an “important step toward our goal of returning assets to clients through our chapter 11 cases,” adding “It is our belief that clients unamb...
SBF prosecutors reportedly dig into donations made to top US Democrats
The prosecutors investigating former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) have reportedly reached out to top members of the Democratic Party demanding information about the political donations made by the entrepreneur. Democratic members from the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries were contacted by SBF prosecutors for information to aid their ongoing investigations, according to a New York Times report. The United States attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York sent an email to the Democratic Party elections lawyer Marc Elias, asking for details on donations made by SBF. Similar emails were sent over to other members of the Democratic and Republican parties. The Royal Bahamas police arrested ...
SEC was “asleep at the wheel” about FTX – US Rep. Sessions
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was “asleep at the wheel” regarding how FTX Group and its subsidiaries met financial and corporate control requirements, Representative Pete Sessions said in the Saturday Report on December 17. “We need to look at what the Securities and Exchange Commission was doing”, stated the Texas Congressman, adding that “the SEC was asleep at the wheel for these billions of dollars that we now find out about a year later.” The SEC filed charges against Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the former CEO of FTX, on Dec. 13, claiming that Bankman-Fried violated the anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. In the complaint, the SEC requests an injunction to prohibit Bankman-Fried fro...
Sam Bankman-Fried seeks to reverse decision on contesting extradition: Report
Sam Bankman-Fried, former FTX CEO, has reportedly reconsidered his earlier decision to contest extradition and is expected to appear in court in the Bahamas on Dec. 19 to seek a reversal, Reuters reported on Dec. 17 citing a person familiar with the matter. By consenting to extradition, Bankman-Fried would be able to appear in a United States court. He faces charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers and lenders, securities fraud, commodities fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate the campaign finance law. The move follows the Bankman-Fried’s bail denial on Dec. 13 due to the “risk of flight”. The former CEO’s lawyers argued that SBF does not possess a criminal record and was suffering from depression and i...
Democrats to reportedly return over $1M of SBF’s funding to FTX victims
Following the arrest of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), three prominent Democratic groups have reportedly decided to return over $1 million to investors that lost their funds due to misappropriation. On Dec. 16, the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) pledged to return SBF’s political donations after the entrepreneur was charged with eight counts of financial crimes. A DNC spokesperson reportedly confirmed this decision when speaking to a media outlet, the Verge: “Given the allegations around potential campaign finance violations by Bankman-Fried, we are setting aside funds in order to return the $815,000 in contributions since 2020. We will return as soon as we receive p...
The outcome of SBF’s prosecution could determine how the IRS treats your FTX losses
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has received official criminal charges after the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange, which is more than just a moral victory for the exchange’s roughly 1 million individual investors. While not locked in yet, things appear to be on track for these investors to take a more favorable tax position as SBF’s fate continues to unravel. What kinds of losses can FTX investors claim on their taxes? Earlier this fall, it appeared that assets lost in the FTX collapse would be considered a capital loss under the United States tax code for the tax year 2022. This capital loss can be used to offset capital gains. But in a year in which the crypto market took a beating as a whole, most investors will not have capital gains to offset in 2022. A capital loss can also be u...
FTX Bahamas co-CEO Ryan Salame blew the whistle on FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried
A high-ranking executive at FTX’s Bahamian entity tipped off local regulators of potential fraud perpetrated at the cryptocurrency exchange just two days before the exchange was forced to close. According to Bahamian court records filed on Dec. 14, Ryan Salame, the former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets (FDM), told the Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB) on Nov. 9 that FTX was sending customer funds to its sister trading firm Alameda Research. Salame said the funds were to “cover financial losses of Alameda” and the transfer was “not allowed or consented to by their clients.” He also told the SCB only three people had the access required to transfer client assets to Alameda: Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX co-founder Zixiao “Gary” Wang and FTX engineer Nishad Singh. Ryan Salame ...
SBF’s Bahamian prison reported for ‘harsh’ conditions and ‘degrading treatment’ — US State Dept
After being denied bail in a Bahamas Magistrate Court, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried could spend up to two months in the country’s Fox Hill Prison, a facility with reported cases of physical abuse against prisoners and “harsh” conditions. Authorities in the Bahamas reportedly remanded Bankman-Fried to the medical wing of Fox Hill following a Dec. 13 hearing. SBF’s counsel said he had been taking medication prior to his arrest on Dec. 12, including Adderall and anti-depressants, but it’s unclear if the former CEO will serve his time at the correctional facility, its medical unit, or an alternative location. According to a 2021 human rights report from the U.S. State Department, conditions at Fox Hill were “harsh.” Investigations determined that the facility was overcrowded, prisoners had...
Will FTX’s ill wind reach the Global South? Maybe not
With the crypto world still reeling from the FTX collapse, Brazil recently passed legislation that legalized cryptocurrency use for payments in the country. How to reconcile this with all those declarations in the West that crypto is having its “Lehman moment”? Brazil may have inadvertently revealed a cleft between the developed world and emerging markets with regard to the uses and misuses of cryptocurrencies. (The legislation still requires a presidential signature before it becomes law.) Unquestionably, FTX’s Nov. 11 bankruptcy filing hurt crypto exchanges and other crypto-focused enterprises in Brazil, as well as many crypto-based companies all through Latin America (LATAM). But this latest gale in the crypto winter is generally not seen as an existential threat — as it is someti...
White House silent on whether it will return $5.2M in donations from SBF
White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, declined to answer questions from a reporter on whether United States president Joe Biden will return the $5.2 million in campaign donations previously given by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. “Will the president return that donation?” Associated Press reporter Zeke Miller asked in a Dec. 13 press briefing, “does he call on all politicians who got campaign donations that may have come from customer money to return those funds?” “I’m covered here by the Hatch Act,” Jean-Pierre responded, adding she was “limited on what I can say.” ”Anything that’s connected to political contributions, from here I would have to refer you to the DNC,” she said in reference to the Democratic National Committee — the governing body of the U.S. Democrat...
Bahamian securities regulator slams new FTX CEO over ‘misstatements’
The Securities Commission of Bahamas has slammed the current CEO of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX John J. Ray III for his statements regarding the ongoing investigation into FTX. In a press release sent to Cointelegraph, the Bahaman regulator didn’t directly point toward the exact statements of the CEO, but addressed recent reports that suggest the Bahamas’ government asked former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to create a new multi-million token and hand over the control to them. The said report also alleged Bahamas officials tried to help Bankman-Fried regain access to key computer systems of the FTX. According to United States lawyers, Bahamas officials were “responsible for directing unauthorized access” to FTX systems in order to take over control of digital assets under the s...
