Last month, the crypto broker FTX went bankrupt with a lot of noise. Unfortunately, there is still a lot unclear about how the bankruptcy went in the first place, for example, part of the money from customers has disappeared without a trace. The new board now wants to recover this money with the help of forensic investigation.
Quest for hacked crypto capital FTX
That writes The Wall Street Journal. Shortly after the bankruptcy announcement, FTX was subject to a massive hack that wiped out more than $450 million worth of cryptocurrencies. Exactly what caused this is still not entirely clear.
The government of the Bahamas allegedly ordered former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to hack his own company so that the government could ‘keep it safe’, but the tokens have since been moved and many have even been sold. Now it is apparently not at all clear where the money has gone.
Bankman-Fried stated last week in an interview that he almost knew who the hacker was – so he wouldn’t have carried out the hack himself anyway. There would be eight more candidates, but unfortunately there is still no clarity about where the money is now.
That is why the new board of the crypto exchange has hired the financial consultancy AlixPartners to conduct forensic investigations. Former chief accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Matt Jacques heads this.
FTX’ SBF fell off pedestal
Meanwhile, the uncertainty about the money and the involvement of Sam Bankman-Fried only grows. The young entrepreneur has since stepped down as CEO. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao called him one of the biggest fraudsters ever. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also does not trust him.
Not so long ago, SBF stated that it would one day buy the huge investment bank Goldman Sachs and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). He was one of the most prominent people in the industry. Unfortunately, he told in a new interview that his net worth has dropped to just $100,000. So that goal will take some time.