Investigation news-Page 2
SBF 'willing' to testify at Senate hearing on the FTX collapse
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has indicated that he’s willing to testify at a United States Senate hearing into the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Bankman-Fried controversially missed the deadline to respond to a Senate Banking Committee request to appear and testify during a hearing focused on FTX’s bankruptcy earlier this week. While the possibility of a congressional subpoena was on the table, the beleaguered former CEO has offered himself up in a series of Tweets published Dec. 9. 1) I still do not have access to much of my data -- professional or personal. So there is a limit …
Regulation / Dec. 9, 2022
IIROC-registered Canadian crypto exchange Coinsquare suffers data breach
Just a month after becoming the first Canadian crypto trading platform to get registered by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), Coinsquare suffered a data breach that compromised users' personal information. On Nov. 19, Coinsquare had to temporarily shut down operations to investigate an unusual activity on its platform. However, several days of proactive measures allowed Coinsquare to resume operations gradually. We will be re-enabling crypto deposits shortly after the maintenance window with crypto withdrawals to follow shortly after. — Coinsquare (@Coinsquare) November 22, 2022 In a follow-up email to investors, Coinsquare admitted that their customer database with …
Adoption / Nov. 26, 2022
South Korea seizes $104M from Terra co-founder suspecting unfair profits
While crypto exchange FTX stole the limelight from other fallen ecosystems, South Korean authorities continue their efforts to bring closure to the victims of the year’s first crypto crash — Terraform Labs. Nearly six months after the Terra (LUNA) blockchain was officially halted, South Korean authorities froze approximately $104.4 million (140 billion won) from co-founder Shin Hyun-seong based on suspicion of unfair profits. The decision to freeze Shin’s asset worth over $104 million was approved by the Seoul Southern District Court, which was based on a request from the prosecutors. The claim related to Shin’s involvement in selling pre-issued Terra …
Regulation / Nov. 19, 2022
SBF received $1 billion in personal loans from Alameda: FTX bankrupty filing
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried received a $1 billion personal loan from one of four silo companies deeply involved in the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange. A formal declaration in ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings from FTX’s new CEO John Ray III has revealed further misappropriation of funds by Bankman Fried. According to the filing, Alameda Research had loaned $1 billion directly to Bankman-Fried, while FTX director of engineering Nishad Singh had also received a $543 million loan from the company. Ray III, the man responsible for picking up the pieces after the infamous collapse of Enron, was scathing …
Adoption / Nov. 17, 2022
FTX collapse was a 'dumpster fire', says US lawmaker announcing investigative hearing
Members of the United States’ House Financial Services Committee have scheduled a December hearing aimed at exploring the collapse of crypto exchange FTX and “broader consequences for the digital asset ecosystem.” In a Nov. 16 announcement, the House committee said it expected to hear from individuals and companies involved in the events which led to the FTX Group filing for bankruptcy under Chapter 11, including former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried — also known as SBF — Alameda Research, and Binance. It’s unclear whether Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who has also been vocal on social media about his discussions with SBF and …
Regulation / Nov. 16, 2022
27,000 requests last year: Collaboration key for Binance’s Investigations team
Historical crime has left a proverbial black mark on the cryptocurrency ecosystem with multi-million dollar hacks, scams and fraud cases grabbing headlines around the world. Various research reports have highlighted the use of cryptocurrencies for illicit means, with varying degrees of severity since Bitcoin’s inception in 2009. This has ebbed and flowed but crypto is still perceived by some as a means to launder money, finance terrorism and facilitate other serious crimes. The prevalence of cryptocurrency-related crime inevitably led to the development of better tools and services to track and trace funds on different blockchains and cryptocurrency exchanges. Firms like …
Blockchain / Nov. 16, 2022
US reportedly considering Bankman-Fried extradition for questioning
In the aftermath of the FTX exchange liquidity crisis and bankruptcy, United States and Bahamian authorities are reportedly discussing the possibility of extraditing Sam Bankamn-Fried, former CEO of the company, back to the U.S. for questioning. According to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter, conversations between local law-enforcement officials, including the FBI, escalated in recent days as they investigated Bankman-Fried's role in the downfall of the exchange Since the incident, the former FTX CEO, co-founder Gary Wang and the director of engineering Nishad Singh are known to be in the Bahamas, where they are “under supervision” by …
Regulation / Nov. 16, 2022
Turkey’s financial authority investigates FTX’s collapse
Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Agency is the latest authority to announce investigations into crypto exchange FTX after its collapse and bankruptcy filing on Nov.11. Along with FTX, the agency will look into people and institutions related to the platform — including banks, electronic money institutions and crypto-asset providers — according to an official statement from Nov. 14. The regulator also noted that it had been monitoring FTX’s activities in accordance with the country’s Anti-Money Laundering laws. FTX Turkey, FTX’s regional subsidiary, provided a Google Form for users seeking to receive their funds, without specifying a delivery date. On its website …
Regulation / Nov. 14, 2022
Manhattan District Attorney's Office probes FTX collapse: Report
Prosecutors with the United States attorney’s office in the Manhattan district of New York have reportedly begun investigating the fall of crypto exchange FTX. According to a Nov. 14 report from Reuters, a source with knowledge of the investigations said authorities in New York were looking into the collapse of the major crypto exchange following FTX declaring bankruptcy on Nov. 11. The report followed news the state of California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation announced it would be investigating the “apparent failure” of FTX. The ongoing saga with FTX may be shifting to the regulatory and legal implications of …
Regulation / Nov. 14, 2022
Binance CEO CZ on FTX crash: “We’ve been set back a few years”
Crypto exchange FTX joined many other fallen projects — including Terra (LUNA), 3AC, Celsius and Voyager — in filing for bankruptcy in 2022. Owing to the devastation caused by multi-billion dollar losses suffered by businesses and investors, the man running the biggest crypto exchange, Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, envisions an era of greater regulatory scrutiny in the near future. With one of the biggest crypto businesses falling overnight, CZ believed the episode was devastating for the industry, which took away a lot of consumer confidence. Speaking at Indonesia Fintech Summit 2022, he said: “I think basically we've been set …
Regulation / Nov. 12, 2022
Bitfinex CTO releases proof of reserves amid FTX bankruptcy fiasco
The fall of major crypto ecosystems — such as FTX and Terra (LUNA) — this year highlighted the importance of transparency around the true reserves held by crypto exchanges and businesses. Amid the ongoing fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) across the crypto space, crypto exchange Bitfinex revealed its proof of reserves to the general public. Over the past few days, major crypto exchanges, including Binance, OKX, Kucoin and Crypto.com, committed to sharing their proof of reserve to regain investor confidence. Walking the talk, Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino shared the list of the main Bitfinex wallets, last updated on November 11. …
Blockchain / Nov. 12, 2022
SEC issues subpoena to influencers promoting HEX, PulseChain and PulseX
Over several years, social media influencers have earned a bad rep among regulators for shilling risky and unvetted tokens to millions of investors. Pursuing the crackdown on such scenarios, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reportedly issued a subpoena to influencers who were found promoting cryptocurrencies such as HEX, PulseChain and PulseX. Swedish researcher Eric Wall shared an official letter from the SEC dated Nov. 1, which was addressed to influencers. It read: “We believe that you may possess documents and data that are relevant to an ongoing investigation being conducted by the staff of the United States Securities …
Regulation / Nov. 6, 2022