The Securities Commission of the Bahamas is temporarily holding US$3.5 billion of digital assets seized from FTX Digital Markets – FTX’s Bahamian unit – and waiting to deliver them to customers and creditors who own them.
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Fast facts
- The Securities Commission announced on Thursday that it is holding US$3.5 billion worth of FTX’s digital assets, based on market pricing at the time of the transfer.
- The funds were directed to digital wallets controlled by the commission on Nov. 17, shortly after FTX and its affiliates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S.
- “The digital assets transferred on 12 November 2022 to digital wallets under the exclusive control of the Commission are being held by the Commission on a temporary basis, until such time as The Bahamas Supreme Court directs the Commission to deliver them to the customers and creditors who own them,” wrote Christina Rolle, executive director of the Securities Commission of the Bahamas.
- Rolle added that all transferred assets remain under the sole control of the commission, while they “continue to conduct a comprehensive and diligent investigation into the causes of FTX’s failure.”
- The announcement comes the same week as court documents revealed that Sam Bankman-Fried used funds from Alameda Research to buy Robinhood shares.
- FTX founder Bankman-Fried was extradited to the U.S. on Dec. 21. He was allowed release to his parents’ California residence the next day on a US$250 million bail.
See related article: US lawyers, Bahamas liquidators trade barbs over who rules FTX bankruptcy jurisdiction
