In December, judicial investigations into FTX multiplied to untangle the true from the false. The Bahamian Securities Regulator recently revealed that it seized $3.5 billion in cryptocurrencies previously held by FTX last November.
$3.5 billion in cryptocurrencies held by authorities
In November 2022, during the collapse of the FTX Group, the authorities of the Caribbean archipelago had seized funds from the cryptocurrency exchange platform to protect the assets of customers and creditors. According to a press release, the amount raised was $3.5 billion the day of the kidnapping.
Originally owned by FTX Digital Market, the Bahamian branch of the exchange, these assets are today in different portfolios supervised by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB), the regulatory authority of the country. The Bahamian institute justified the recovery of these funds by highlighting a risk of probable financial loss:
“SCB has determined that there is a significant risk of imminent disappearance of digital assets in FTX’s custody or control to the detriment of its customers and creditors. Accordingly, in the exercise of its regulatory powers, SCB sought and was granted a court order to safeguard digital assets held by or under the control of FTX. »
Note that this decision was made the day before the company was hacked during which $370 million was stolen. According to the SCB, the frozen assets will remain dormant until the country’s Supreme Court orders repayment to creditors and customers.
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The legal battle is getting more and more complex
Lawsuits against the Bahamian company and its officials have been piling up lately. While Sam Bankman-Fried chose to plead not guilty during his arraignment scheduled for January 3, 2023, the company’s lawyers denounce the intrusive behavior of SCB towards their data.
The latter, in fact, last month formally opposed the transmission of access by the company concerning its communication channels and its cloud services such as Slack, Google and Amazon Web Services. Furthermore, the lawyers asked the judge in charge of the case to do so reject the regulators’ request on the pretext of risks to the safety of assets :
“This substantial measure is unjustified and presents enormous and unjustifiable security risks for debtors, their assets, customers and creditors. »
We recall that other investigations are underway in the context of the fall of financial giant FTX, which has been under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States since November 2022. As for its former leader Sam Bankman-Fried, he is on bail today. He faces a sentence of up to 115 years in prison..
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Sources: SCB, court records
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