In December, the judicial inquiries about FTX multiplied to disentangle the true from the false. Recently, the Bahamian institution in charge of the regulation of movable assets revealed that it seized last November 3.5 billion dollars in cryptocurrencies formerly held by FTX.
Les autorités des Bahamas détiennent 3,5 milliards de dollars en provenance de FTX
$3.5 billion in cryptocurrency 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 seizure.
Originally owned by FTX Digital Market, the Bahamian subsidiary of the exchange, these assets are today in different portfolios controlled by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB), the country’s regulatory authority. The Bahamian institution justified the recovery of these funds by highlighting a risk of probable financial leakage:
“SCB has determined that there is a significant risk of imminent disappearance of digital assets in the custody or control of FTX to the detriment of its customers and creditors. Accordingly, in exercising its regulatory powers, SCB sought and obtained a court order to safeguard the digital assets held by or under the control of FTX. »
Note that this decision was taken the day before the hack suffered by the company during which 370 million dollars were siphoned off. According to the SCB, the frozen assets will sit idle until the country’s Supreme Court orders repayment to creditors and customers.
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The legal battle is getting more complex
Lately, legal actions are multiplying against the Bahamian company and its officials. While Sam Bankman-Fried chose to plead not guilty during his plea scheduled for January 03, 2023, the company’s lawyers denounce the intrusive behavior of the SCB regarding their data.
Indeed, last month, the latter formally opposed the transmission of access from the company concerning their communication channels and their cloud services such as Slack, Google and Amazon Web Services. In addition, the lawyers asked the judge in charge of the case to reject the request of the regulators on the pretext of risks for the security of the assets :
“This substantial measure is unwarranted and presents massive and unjustifiable security risks to debtors, their assets, customers and creditors. »
Recall that other investigations are underway in the context of the fall of the financial juggernaut FTX, which has been under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States since November 2022. Regarding its former leader Sam Bankman-Fried, he is today out on bail today. He faces a sentence of up to 115 years in prison..
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Sources: SCB, Court Filing
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Always enthusiastic about new technologies, I gradually moved closer to Web3-related activities during the year 2021. Over time, I wanted to add my stone to the building. It was then that I became an editor, with the aim of explaining cryptocurrency-related topics to as many people as possible.
Timothy Bourbotte
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