Damian Williams, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said the investigation leading to charges against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried had been “very, very fast” but prosecutors were “not done” with arrests. In a press conference livestream on Dec. 13, Williams said the timing of the arrest of Bankman-Fried had been based on progress from law enforcement officials, who authorized charges on Dec. 7 and indicted the former FTX CEO on Dec. 9, leading to a warrant being executed in the Bahamas on Dec. 12. An eight-count indictment released on Dec. 13 revealed U.S. authorities alleged …

According to local sources, on Dec. 13, crypto executive Sam Bankman-Fried's (SBF) lawyers have requested bail in a Bahamas' Magistrate Court after his arrest on Dec. 12 pending extradition request by U.S. authorities. The move comes after presiding judge Chief Magistrate JoyAnn Ferguson-Pratt stated earlier todaythat SBF had the right to request bail. In supporting the decision, the defense counsel for SBF argued that the 30-year-old crypto executive suffered from "depression" and "insomnia," does not possess a criminal record, and did not flee the Bahamas despite "ample opportunity" to do so. Counsel representing SBF also claimed that their client hasn't …

The indictment against Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was unsealed Dec. 13. The indictment, signed by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams, is 14 pages long and containe eight counts. The charges listed against SBF in the indictment are: Conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers, wire fraud on customers, conspiracy to commit wire fraud on lenders, wire fraud on lenders, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering anconspiracy to defraud the United States and violate the campaign finance laws. USA Damian Williams: Earlier this evening, Bahamian authorities arrested …

Though Sam Bankman-Fried could not attend the congressional hearing virtually due to his recent arrest in the Bahamas, United States lawmakers held no punches criticizing the former FTX CEO and business practices at the firm. As the sole witness before a hearing of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee on Dec. 13, FTX CEO John Ray shed light on many of the crypto exchange’s activities prior to his takeover as company head on Nov. 11 and what subsequent investigations had revealed. According to Ray, Alameda Research had been dependent on funds from FTX Trading — the international arm of the …

The sudden failure of FTX has left many people questioning the impact this will have on the cryptocurrency ecosystem. For instance, it remains questionable whether or not crypto hotspots will continue to flourish or if there will be a decline in innovation. While it may be too soon to fully understand the impact of the FTX collapse, industry leaders within crypto-friendly geographies believe that the FTX failure will not hamper innovation. For example, Dubai — which has been dubbed as one of the most innovative regions for crypto and blockchain development — continues to see ecosystem activity. Most recently, The …

The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, has filed a lawsuit against Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX and Alameda Research, claiming violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and demanding a jury trial. According to court records filed Dec. 13 in the Southern District of New York, the CFTC filed a complaint for injunctive and other equitable relief as well as civil monetary penalties against Bankman-Fried, FTX Trading, and Alameda Research. The complaint alleged that SBF personally directed FTC executives to set up features allowing Alameda to use the crypto exchange as a line of credit for its lenders. “Contrary to …

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), the council of Canada's provincial and territorial securities regulators, on Dec. 13 issued an update to crypto trading platforms operating in the country. The CSA said that the authority has been reinforcing its approach to the supervision of crypto trading platforms by expanding existing requirements. According to the statement, all crypto trading firms operating in Canada — both local and foreign ones — have to comply with newly expanded terms, which ban them from offering margin or leverage trading services to any Canadian clients. The expanded terms also require crypto exchange services providers in Canada …

The Bahamas government reportedly worked with former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to issue a new cryptocurrency controlled by local officials. Following the FTX collapse in November, Bahamas government officials reportedly asked Bankman-Fried to mint new digital assets worth “hundreds of millions of dollars,” lawyers for FTX said in a court filing, Bloomberg reported on Dec. 12. The authorities also reportedly asked the former FTX CEO to transfer the new tokens to the control of island officials. The report also suggests that Bahamas officials tried to help Bankman-Fried regain access to key computer systems of the now-defunct FTX trading platform. According …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX. The SEC has charged Bankman-Fried with violating the anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The SEC’s complaint seeks injunctions against future securities law violation that prohibits Bankman-Fried from participating in the issuance, purchase, offer, or sale of any securities except for his own personal account. Related: SBF planned to blame everyone but himself, shows leaked Congress testimony SEC charged Bankman-Fried for orchestrating a scheme to defraud equity investors in …

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF, was arrested on Dec 12, a day before he was set to testify before Congress remotely. A copy of his testimony, obtained by Forbes, highlights that the disgraced CEO planned to blame the spectral downfall of his $32 billion empire on everyone but himself. SBF continued the same rhetoric about FTX.US, the sister company of the global cryptocurrency exchange, in his testimony. He claimed that the United States-based entity was still “fully solvent” despite it being a part of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filed on Nov. 11. Bankman Fried wrote: “I …

Pro-crypto United States senator Cynthia Lummis has remained steadfast in her support for Bitcoin (BTC) as part of diversified retirement plans, despite calls from her senator peers otherwise. As it stands, Lummis seems to be just one of the few openly crypto-friendly politicians in the United States and has notably pushed for progressive crypto regulation alongside Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Speaking with online news outlet Semafor on Dec. 12, Lummis outlined that crypto winter has not shaken her resolve in BTC and that she’d still like to see the asset included in United States 401(k) retirement plans: “I'm very comfortable with …

Merely hours before news of his arrest by Bahamian police, Sam Bankman-Fried took to Twitter denying his involvement or knowledge of a secret group chat named “Wirefraud” — which allegedly involved former FTX and Alameda ranking executives. In a Dec. 12 response to a report from the Australian Financial Review (AFR), Bankman-Fried used Twitter to deny involvement in or knowledge of a “Wirefraud” group chat on messaging app Signal, which reportedly included members of Bankman-Fried’s inner circle, including FTX co-founder Zixiao “Gary” Wang, FTX engineer Nishad Singh and former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison. The AFR report said the chat was …