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Sam Bankman-Fried: Founder of bankrupt crypto firm FTX arrested in Bahamas
‘SBF,’ as the FTX founder is known, had become one of the biggest names in the crypto industry before the company’s sudden collapse.
Tuesday 13 December 2022 00:22, UK
Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX US Derivatives, testifies during the House Agriculture Committee hearing titled “Changing Market Roles: The FTX Proposal and Trends in New Clearinghouse Models,”
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Police in the Bahamas have arrested Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of bankrupt crypto firm FTX.
The country’s attorney general said The Bahamas received formal notification from the US that criminal charges have been filed against him there.
FTX, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, filed for bankruptcy protection in the States last month and Bankman-Fried resigned as chief executive, triggering a wave of public demands for greater regulation of the cryptocurrency industry.
The distressed crypto trading platform struggled to raise money to stave off collapse as traders rushed to withdraw $6bn (£4.89bn) from the platform in just 72 hours.
More than one million customers worldwide were using his platform to buy assets like Bitcoin.
Read more: Major crypto exchange FTX begins bankruptcy proceedings in US
Bankman-Fried – known as ‘SBF’ – had become one of the biggest names in the crypto industry, with his company swooping in to save smaller firms after they were tipped into bankruptcy.
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But in the space of just three days, a series of bombshell allegations led to the spectacular collapse of FTX and a bankruptcy of its own.
FILE – The FTX Arena logo is seen where the Miami Heat basketball team plays Nov. 12, 2022, in Miami. The former CEO of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX said Wednesday, Nov. 30, that he did not …knowingly” misuse customers' funds, and claimed he believes his millions of angry customers will eventually be made whole. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier, File)
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Pic: Associated Press
A spokesman for the US Attorney’s office in Manhattan, New York, confirmed Bankman-Fried had been arrested in The Bahamas but declined to comment on what the charges were.
“As a result of the notification received, and the material provided therewith, it was deemed appropriate for the Attorney General to seek SBF’s arrest and hold him in custody pursuant to our nation’s Extradition Act,” the office of The Bahamas Attorney General Ryan Pinder said.
FTX was set up to allow people to buy cryptocurrencies using their pounds and dollars. It was praised for its easy-to-use interface – and made money by charging small fees for each transaction.
In a series of interviews and public appearances in late November and December, Bankman-Fried acknowledged risk
management failures but denied accusations of fraud.
