Nf the crypto exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy, the Bahamas police have launched an investigation. In light of FTX’s global collapse, a team of financial investigators, working closely with the island nation’s securities regulator, are investigating whether there has been criminal misconduct, the police said on Sunday. The Bahamas is where FTX’s international operations are based, as well as retired boss Sam Bankman-Fried. The securities regulator had previously stated that the company was suspected of having embezzled customer funds, among other things.
Bankman-Fried’s international crypto platform FTX.com ran into payment difficulties a week ago after doubts about capital reserves led to customer flight and billions in funds being withdrawn. On Wednesday it initially looked as if the competitor Binance would take over most of the ailing group. But that plan fell through the next day.
How FTX collapsed
On Thursday, the Bahamian securities regulator said it had frozen certain assets of FTX and requested a liquidator to handle it. According to FTX, it applied for bankruptcy protection in the USA on Friday, and Bankman-Fried announced his resignation as boss.
The legal counsel for the US subsidiary of FTX, Ryne Miller, said on Twitter on Saturday that there had been “unauthorized transactions”. British analytics firm Elliptic suggested that $473 million in crypto assets were stolen from FTX on Friday night.
As a 30-year-old star entrepreneur, Bankman-Fried had graced the front pages of well-known US business journals just a few months ago. His company, which was valued at $32 billion by investors, collapsed completely within a few days. The FTX debacle also weighed on the already badly battered crypto market.