Insolvent crypto exchange
Bahamas extradite FTX founders to US
12/22/2022 3:03 am
The crypto exchange FTX is insolvent and many customers fear for their money. In this context, the US Securities and Exchange Commission accuses founder Bankman-Fried of fraud. After the arrest of the 30-year-old in the Bahamas, extradition to the USA is to follow.
The founder of the insolvent crypto exchange FTX is to be extradited to the USA. Sam Bankman-Fried will be brought to the United States from the Bahamas, the Caribbean state’s Attorney General said. The 30-year-old waived his right to contest the extradition.
Bankman-Fried was arrested on December 12 at the request of US authorities in the Bahamas. In the United States, he faces a long prison sentence. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has accused the financial manager of fraud. The agency accuses Bankman-Fried of misleading investors with false promises and embezzling their funds. It’s about more than 1.8 billion US dollars (more than 1.7 billion euros).
Bankman-Fried’s FTX group had collapsed due to huge withdrawals of funds related to liquidity concerns. Billions in customer funds could not be paid out. The 30-year-old, who is only called SBF in the crypto industry, embodied the rise of crypto currencies to a supposedly serious investment like no other. Just a few months ago, he graced the front pages of US business journals like Fortune.
FTX’s bankruptcy trustee, John Ray, attributed the crypto exchange’s debacle to the fact that “a very small group of extremely inexperienced and uneducated people” made all the major decisions at the company. “Never in my career have I seen such failures in corporate controls at every level of an organization, from the absence of financial statements to the complete absence of any internal controls or governance whatsoever,” he said at a US congressional hearing.