The names of two guarantors who signed off on part of Sam Bankman-Fried’s $250 million bail bond will continue to remain a secret for now. A judge has also rejected an agreement that would have permitted Bankman-Fried to use certain messaging apps. Bankman Fried’s lawyers filed an appeal to block the release of the guarantors' names last-minute on Feb. 7. The appeal did not contain further arguments against the disclosure but it will prevent the order from being enforced until Feb. 14 to allow for an application for a further stay. The appeal was expected after a Jan. 30 ruling …

Damian Williams, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has petitioned the court to delay civil proceedings against former FTX chief executive officer Sam Bankman-Fried “until the conclusion of the parallel criminal case”. In Feb. 7 filings, Williams requested that the court issue an order staying civil proceedings as well as discovery from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission against Bankman-Fried until after his criminal case, scheduled to go to trial in October. According to Williams, the criminal case against Bankman-Fried was “likely to have a significant impact” on the SEC and …

A federal judge has denied a joint agreement between Sam Bankman-Fried’s legal team and prosecutors which would have allowed the former FTX CEO to use certain messaging apps. In a Feb. 7 filing for United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Lewis Kaplan denied a motion proposing Bankman-Fried be allowed to use messaging services including FaceTime, Zoom, and Facebook Messenger. The judge did not provide a reason for denying the motion "without prejudice", but added the matter would be subject to oral arguments in a Feb. 9 hearing. Prosecutors filed a motion in January suggesting …

Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF's) lawyers have reached an agreement with federal prosecutors concerning his use of messaging apps. According to a Feb. 6 court document, both parties have agreed SBF “shall not use any encrypted or ephemeral call of messaging application, including but not limited to Signal.” However, under the agreement, the former FTX CEO will be able to access FaceTime, Zoom, iMessage, SMS text, email and Facebook Messenger. He will also be allowed to use the encrypted messaging service WhatsApp but only if “monitoring technology is installed on his cellphone that automatically logs and preserves all WhatsApp communications.” The latest …

The U.K. outline of the future financial services regulatory regime for crypto covers a broad range of topics, from the troubles of algorithmic stablecoins to nonfungible tokens and initial coin offerings. And it’s certainly good news for the industry, as the upcoming regulation doesn’t propose a ban on algorithmic stablecoins or excessive requirements on data sharing for digital asset operators. The Australian consultation paper on “token mapping” is a foundational step in the government’s multistage reform agenda to regulate the market. Based on the “functional” and technology-neutral method, the paper proposes several basic definitions for all things crypto. Its taxonomy …

FTX's new management is seeking to recover political donations made by Sam Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives until February 28, according to a statement disclosed on Feb. 5. The move is part of bankruptcy proceedings and an effort to repay the crypto exchange creditors. According to FTX attorney Andy Dietderich, the defunct firm has “recovered $5 billion in cash and liquid cryptocurrencies” by Jan. 11. Total liabilities amount to nearly $9 billion. As noted in the statement: "FTX Debtors are sending confidential messages to political figures, political action funds, and other recipients of contributions or other payments that were made …

Google Cloud has reportedly invested $300 million into artificial intelligence (AI) startup firm Anthropic, which also happened to receive over $500 million in funds from former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried about six months before FTX catastrophically collapsed. While the $300 million figure was reported by Financial Times on Feb. 4, Anthropic confirmed the investment partnership with Google Cloud on the same day despite not disclosing any figures: We're excited to use Google Cloud to train our AI systems, including Claude! https://t.co/IaqQ5lpJrP https://t.co/vOn5Cj4sPt — Anthropic (@AnthropicAI) February 3, 2023 In the same announcement, Anthropic also confirmed that they previously raised capital …

A property linked to Sam Bankman-Fried's political spending was pulled off the market by the seller as a sign of "good faith" after being linked to FTX customer funds, the Wall Street Journal reported. The townhouse - located a few blocks from the United States Capitol, in the Capitol Hill neighborhood - is owned by Guarding Against Pandemics, a nonprofit organization established by Gabriel Bankman-Fried, brother of the bankrupt exchange's former CEO. In court filings from January, FTX's new management claimed that customer funds were misappropriated to purchase the property for $3.3 million. The Guarding Against Pandemics pulled the listing …

Emergent Fidelity Technologies, a Sam Bankman-Fried holding company based in Antigua and Barbuda, has filed for bankruptcy protection. According to court records filed on Feb. 3, Emergent Fidelity Technologies submitted a voluntary petition to declare bankruptcy under a Chapter 11 filing in United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The company was already the target of a lawsuit filed by crypto lending firm BlockFi in November regarding the status of roughly 55 million shares of Robinhood. The Robinhood shares — worth more than $590 million at the time of publication — have been a point of contention among …

Nearly $13 million has been moved into the consolidation wallet of bankrupt crypto trading firm Alameda Research in just 24 hours, revealed data from blockchain security firm PeckShield on Feb. 2. The address received $6 million in Tether (USDT) and $2.5 million in Ether (ETH) from crypto exchange Bitfinex’s hot wallet, along with $4.5 million worth of USD Coin (USDC) from an anonymous source and 30,000 Lido tokens worth roughly $65,500. #PeckShieldAlert ～$13M worth of cryptos have been transferred to Alameda consolidation-labeled address, including ~6M $USDT & 1,545 $ETH ($2.5M) from Bitfinex, ~4.6M $USDC from 0x7889 Wondering why Bitfinex transferred …

The FTX saga and the developments that led to the crypto exchange's collapse will be framed in a new documentary focusing on the volatile relationship between Sam Bankman-Fried and one of his fiercest critics, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the production is a partnership between media outlet Fortune and Unrealistic Ideas, a non-scripted production company co-founded by American actor Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson and Archie Gips. "The tumultuous relationship between SBF and CZ has played out to a certain extent in articles and on Twitter, but this definitive documentary will give people a 360 degree personal …

A federal judge presiding over the criminal case against former FTX chief executive officer Sam Bankman-Fried has ordered he not have any contact with current or former employees of the exchange as part of his bail conditions. In a Feb. 1 ruling, Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York said Bankman-Fried was to be prevented from communicating with current or former employees of FTX or Alameda Research “except in the presence of counsel” in order to remain free on bail through his trial. As part of his ruling, Kaplan added that SBF could not contact anyone with …