Latest news regarding crypto exchange FTX- The Cryptonomist

The latest crypto exchange news FTX includes Sam Bankman-Friedthe disgraced founder of the cryptocurrency exchange, who does himself no favors with his statements.

In addition, FTX Japan seems to have allowed total withdrawal of funds and users have been enjoying this “escape”, let’s see why.

Sam Bankman-Fried: all the latest crypto news about the founder of FTX

Despite being accused of orchestrating one of the biggest financial frauds in history and facing the prospect of spending life in prison, SBF has been tweeting and giving interviews to the media, all in an attempt to defend himself in the court of public opinion.

It’s an unusual strategy for a high-profile criminal defendant who oversaw the crypto company FTX, which lost billions of dollars belonging to clients.

In fact, it has baffled lawyers not involved in the case, since every Bankman-Fried quote and tweet is effectively a gift to prosecutors, who can use this material to build their case against him.

Rebecca Mermelsteinpartner at law firm O’Melveny, said:

“I think any white-collar lawyer you could ask would say, ‘Shut up: shut up and let’s talk.’

Furthermore, through a spokesperson, Bankman-Fried declined NPR’s request for an interview. The communication track, including eight tweets, one Substack newsletters and a handful of lengthy media interviews, which Bankman-Fried left behind, are already coming back to haunt him.

For example, a few weeks before Bankman-Fried’s arrest, crypto vloggers Tiffany Fong interviewed him on the phone and the conversation revolved around Bankman-Fried’s campaign contributions.

He must have donated approx 40 million dollars during the 2022 midterms. During that interview, Bankman-Fried admitted to Fong that he directed money to candidates in a way that was difficult to trace:

“All my Republican donations were unclear. And the reason was not for regulatory reasons. That’s because reporters freak out if you donate to a Republican. They are all super liberal and I didn’t want to argue. So I did all the dark Republicans.”

SBF and the evidence of illegal political contributions: what does it mean?

These comments to Fong turned out to be careless. In fact, Bankman-Fried was later charged with eight criminal countsincluding wire fraud and conspiracy to make illegal political contributions.

Then on Thursday, when federal prosecutors unveiled four additional criminal charges against Bankman-Fried, they included new details about the expansion of the case against him.

In the latest indictment, prosecutors specifically cited comments from that interview as part of their additional evidence for their charge of “illegal political contributions”.

In any case, that may not be all. Lawyers warn that prosecutors may use more comments he made during the trial, which is scheduled to start in October.

In any case, it is not just the interviews that have Bankman-Fried in trouble. The founder of the crypto exchange FTX has also contacted current FTX employees, and this could lead to further consequences.

Prosecutors say Bankman-Fried used an encrypted messaging app on Jan. 15 to contact the general counsel of FTX’s U.S. subsidiary, writing the following:

“I’d really like to reconnect and see if there’s a way for us to have a constructive relationship, use each other as resources when possible, or at least check in on things with each other. I’d like to call sometime and chat. »

After the report came out, the judge oversaw the ordered trial new restrictions on Bankman-Fried’s bailprohibiting him from sending encrypted messages and others that disappear after being read, and barred Bankman-Fried from contacting current and former FTX employees.

FTX Japan allows full withdrawal of crypto funds

As FTX customers around the world patiently await an end to the FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried dispute, FTX Japan users have started withdrawing all their money.

To the delight of some investors, FTX Japan resumed withdrawals on February 21, resulting in the transfer of funds from the defunct exchange to a Floating Japan accounting.

Days later, a famous Japanese cryptocurrency trader, Hibiki Traderconfirmed that he had withdrawn all his funds.

The day after fund withdrawals resumed, FTX Japan revealed that users had withdrawn approx 6.6 billion yen ($50 million). While a community member responded by saying, “congratulations on the escape!”

Many have yet to see a total redemption of their funds. The redemption process is expected to be delayed due to the huge number of users affected by the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange.

Several members of the community have confirmed that all their money has been paid out. However, FTX investors watching from the rest of the world remain hopeful of a similar outcome.

Following the allegations against SBF, a federal judge ordered the opening of a superseding indictment containing 12 criminal matters. United States Attorney Damian Williams charged Bankman-Fried with eight counts of conspiracy to defraud and four counts of wire and securities fraud.

As expected, SBF’s criminal case will start in October, while FTX’s bankruptcy the proceedings are ongoing.

Some observations regarding SBF and FTX crypto exchange

Although Bankman-Fried has not made any public comments since Jan. 19, lawyers who have dealt with high-profile white-collar defendants warn that keeping them quiet for long can be a challenge, especially if they are used to living in the spotlight.

This is a potential problem for Bankman-Fried, who had relationships with people as a former president Clinton and former quarterback Tom Brady at the height of his popularity.

In his public statements, the former FTX chief attempted to defend himself by saying that he had no intention of causing loss to FTX’s customers and by claiming, most importantly, that he was not a villain.

For example, a few days before Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas, ABC News appeals George Stephanopoulos asked him if he thought it was fair that people compared him to Bernie Madoff, one of the world’s most notorious fraudsters. Bankman-Fried replied:

“I don’t think that’s who they are at all. But I understand why they say that. People have lost money, they’ve lost a lot of money.”