According to the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, hackers stole approximately $415 million in cryptocurrency.
The FTX’s CEO said that approximately $323 million was stolen from its international exchange and $90 million from its US platform since the company declared bankruptcy.
FTX Investigation
Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder of FTX, has been accused of stealing billions of dollars from users to pay debts at his other firm, Alameda Research.
Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to the charges of fraud. Last week, the company informed a Delaware bankruptcy judge that it had recovered more than $5 billion in assets.
On Tuesday, FTX provided additional information, stating that it had recovered $1.7 billion in cash, $3.5 billion in so-called liquid cryptocurrency, and $300 million in liquid securities.
The term “liquid” in finance refers to an asset that can be easily converted into cash without affecting its value. The company also stated that significant shortfalls had been identified at both its international and US exchanges.
On November 11, FTX, which was valued at $32 billion a year ago, filed for bankruptcy protection. It is estimated that $8 billion in customer funds went missing.
Bankman-Fried, who co-founded FTX in 2019, was a high-profile figure in the cryptocurrency industry, known for his political connections, celebrity endorsements, and bailouts of other struggling companies.
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Sam Bankman-Fried Case
He was arrested in the Bahamas, where he lived and where FTX was based, in December. Bankman-Fried was extradited to the United States, where he was released on a $250 million bail package.
His bail conditions required him to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet and to remain largely confined to the California home of his parents, both Stanford University law professors.
Federal prosecutors claimed in a news conference last month that “intentional fraud” was to blame for the platform’s collapse, which enabled users to purchase and trade digital tokens.
Bankman-Fried disputed FTX’s calculations late Tuesday, claiming that the company’s attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell had provided an “extremely misleading” picture of the company’s finances. Bankman-Fried is suspected of stealing billions of dollars from FTX customers to pay debts incurred by his crypto-focused hedge fund, Alameda Research.
Bankman-Fried, who left his position as CEO in November, claims that FTX has more than enough cash on hand to pay back US clients who, in his “best estimation,” are due between $181 million and $497 million.
FTX discovered a November asset seizure by the Securities Commission of the Bahamas during its initial investigation into system hacks, resulting in a dispute between FTX’s US-based bankruptcy team and Bahamian regulators.
The two parties reached an agreement in January, and Ray announced on Tuesday that the Bahamian government was holding $426 million for creditors.
During a Tuesday event at the Atlantic Council in Washington, Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis mentioned the dispute, saying Ray’s team had “come around” and accepted that the Bahamian asset seizure “was appropriate and perhaps has saved the day for many of the investors in FTX.”
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