Assets of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto company have been frozen by the Bahamian regulator and decided to appoint a liquidator for one of its entities, as the entrepreneur struggles to raise up to $8 billion to save FTX.
As reported by the Financial Times, the Bahamas Securities and Exchange Commission took action on Thursday against FTX Digital Markets, FTX’s Bahamian subsidiary. No assets owned by the business can be transferred without the approval of the interim liquidator, the regulator said. FTX moved to the Bahamas in 2021 from Hong Kong, where it was launched.
“The Committee is aware of public statements suggesting that client assets were mismanaged and/or transferred to Alameda Research,” the statement said. Alameda is Bankman-Fried’s crypto trading business.
Bankman-Fried was seeking to raise up to $8 billion to save his crypto firm on Thursday, telling FTX.com investors that without an “injection” of cash, the company would have to declare bankruptcy, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
On hearing the news, cryptocurrencies took a dive. Today, Bitcoin is up 2.6%, at $17,127, while ether, up 6.6%, is at 1,254. Recall that Binance pulled out of the rescue of the FTX exchange.
