Following the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, at least $1 billion in investor assets seems to be missing according to multiple reports.
Reuters reports that according to two anonymous sources who formerly worked at FTX and claim to have been privy to the company’s finances, FTX is missing at least $1 billion in client funds. The sources claimed that the funds were part of $10 billion in client funds that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried purportedly siphoned off to Alameda Research, the hedge fund he owns.
The Wall Street Journal later reported that it appeared as if hackers had actually stolen $370 million. Bankman-Fried told Reuters that he “disagreed with the characterization” of the transfer, adding: “We had confusing internal labeling and misread it.” Reuters questioned Bankman-Fried about the missing customer funds via text message, to which he replied “???”
FTX U.S. General Counsel Ryne Miller tweeted on Saturday that the company had detected “unauthorized transactions” and moved all digital assets to cold storage, or offline. According to the cryptocurrency analytics and compliance firm Elliptic, $473 million in crypto assets were stolen from FTX last Friday night, although the exact amount has yet to be confirmed.
In a rambling Twitter thread that attempts to explain the current state of FTX, CEO and Democrat megadonor Sam Bankman-Fried wrote, “I’m sorry. That’s the biggest thing. I fucked up, and should have done better.”
This week, Anthony Scaramucci, the founder of SkyBridge Capital and notorious Trump critic, reportedly traveled to the Bahamas to assist Bankman-Fried as both a friend and an investor. Scaramucci said that when he arrived, the company appeared to be in serious trouble far beyond a simple liquidity issue. He did not notice any mishandling when he and other investors evaluated FTX as a potential business partner.
Scaramucci said on CNBC’s Squawk Box Friday morning: “Duped I guess is the right word, but I am very disappointed because I do like Sam. I don’t know what happened because I was not an insider at FTX.”
Read more at Reuters here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan
