Founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, his family and top executives have bought at least 19 properties in the last two years in the Bahamas. The properties are valued at around US$121 million (nearly R$644 million) and include seven luxury condominiums and houses overlooking the sea, as revealed by the Reuters news agency on Tuesday (22).
The properties would have been purchased by a unit of the bankrupt brokerage in the United States with the aim of being used as a “residence for key people” of the company. However, at least one of the homes, with access to the Old Fort Bay beach, was used as a vacation home by Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents, Stanford University law professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried. Currently, Bankman-Fried’s parents “are trying to return the house to the company,” says an FTX spokesperson.
The purchase of these properties is revealed 11 days after FTX filed for bankruptcy in the United States, following liquidity problems for the company. The young founder of the company filed the resignation of leadership.
FTX was once the third largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, worth around $32 billion this year. The company’s growth propelled its owner, young Sam Bankman-Fried, to the rank of one of the world’s biggest billionaires, a status he quickly lost.
In the first half of the year, with the increase in interest rates in the world (which negatively impacts risk assets, such as cryptocurrencies), the owner of FTX began to intervene to save other companies, lending money.
One of the companies that received money from FTX was Alameda Research – owned by Bankman-Fried himself, who received billions in FTT (the FTX token, a kind of official platform currency). Experts point out that, as much as the businesses should have been separated, the executive used the resources of the clients that were deposited in the brokerage to save the Alameda operation.
When this illegal move came to light, the broker’s clients began a rush to withdraw funds, afraid of losing their deposits. Not having enough dollars to pay for all the withdrawals, FTX went bankrupt.
FTX’s biggest creditors have receivables ranging from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dollars, according to a court filing filed in recent days.
The document shows that of the roughly 1 million FTX creditors, the largest single claim is for $226 million and the second is for $203 million. The identities of these creditors are not identified, but collectively they are owed approximately $3.1 billion.
“The Top 50 list is based on available debtor information, including customer information that could be viewed but is not currently accessible,” reads the document, prepared by bankruptcy attorneys.
“Debtors’ investigation continues regarding the amounts listed, including payments that may have been made but are not yet reflected in the books and records. Debtors are also working to gain full access to customer data.”
#billions #debt #creditors #FTX #founder #family #million #worth #homes #Bahamas