Latest news regarding crypto exchange FTX- The Cryptonomist

The latest crypto exchange news FTX contains Sam Bankman Friedthe disgraced founder of the cryptocurrency exchange, who does himself no favors with his statements.

In addition, FTX Japan seems to have allowed full withdrawal of funds and users have been pleased with this “escape”. Let’s see why.

Sam Bankman-Fried: all the latest crypto news about the founder of FTX

Despite being accused of orchestrating one of the biggest financial scams in history and facing the prospect of life in prison, SBF has tweeted and given interviews to the media, all in an effort to do so defend even before the court of public opinion.

It’s an unusual strategy for a high-profile criminal suspect who oversaw crypto firm FTX, which lost billions of dollars owned by clients.

In fact, it has baffled attorneys not involved in the case, since every Bankman Fried quote and tweet is effectively a gift to prosecutors who can use that material set up their case against him.

Rebekah MermelsteinPartner at the law firm of O’Melveny, said:

“I think any business lawyer you could ask would say, ‘Shut up: Shut up and let’s talk.’

Additionally, through a spokesperson, Bankman-Fried declined NPR’s request for an interview. The communication trail, including eight tweets, a substack Newsletters and a handful of lengthy media interviews that Bankman-Fried has been through is already coming back to haunt him.

For example, a few weeks before Bankman Fried’s arrest, crypto vloggers Tiffany Fong interviewed him over the phone and the conversation turned to Bankman-Fried’s campaign contributions.

He reportedly donated about 40 million dollars during the midterms of 2022. During this interview, Bankman-Fried admitted to Fong that he had transferred money to candidates in a way that was difficult to trace:

“All of my Republican donations have been opaque. And not for regulatory reasons. It’s because reporters freak out when you donate to a Republican. They’re all super liberal and I didn’t want to argue. So I made all these dark republicans.”

SAQ and Proof of Illegal Political Contributions: What Does It Mean?

These comments to Fong proved careless. In fact, Bankman-Fried was later indicted eight chargesincluding wire fraud and conspiracy to make illegal political donations.

When federal prosecutors unveiled four more criminal charges against Bankman-Fried on Thursday, they added new details about expanding their case against him.

In the most recent indictment, prosecutors specifically cited comments from that interview as part of their additional evidence for their indictment “illegal political donations”

In any case, that can’t be all. Lawyers warn prosecutors could use additional comments he made during his trial, which is set to begin in October.

In any case, it’s not just the interviews that get Bankman-Fried in trouble. The founder of crypto exchange FTX has also contacted current FTX employees, and that could lead to further ramifications.

Prosecutors say Bankman-Fried used an encrypted messaging app to contact the general counsel of FTX’s US subsidiary on Jan. 15 and wrote:

“I’d really like to get in touch again and see if there’s a way for us to have a constructive relationship, use each other as resources if possible, or at least check things out with each other. I would like to make a phone call and chat.”

After this news broke, the judge overseeing the trial imposed the sentence new restrictions on Bankman-Fried’s bailwhich prohibited him from sending encrypted and other messages that disappear after reading them, and prohibited Bankman-Fried from contacting current and former FTX employees.

FTX Japan allows full withdrawal of crypto funds

As FTX clients around the world patiently await a resolution to the dispute between FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX Japan Users have started withdrawing all their funds.

To the delight of some investors, FTX Japan resumed withdrawals on February 21, resulting in the transfer of funds from the defunct exchange to a Liquid Japan Account.

Days later, a famous Japanese cryptocurrency trader, Hibiki dealerconfirmed that he had successfully withdrawn all his funds.

The day after money withdrawals resumed, FTX Japan announced that users had withdrawn approximately 6.6 billion yen ($50 million). While one community member replied, “Congratulations on your escape!”

Many have not yet experienced full repayment of their funds. The redemption process is expected to be delayed due to the large number of users affected by the collapse of crypto exchange FTX.

Several community members have confirmed that all of their money has been withdrawn. However, FTX investors from the rest of the world continue to hope for a similar outcome.

Following the indictments against SBF, a federal judge ordered the filing of a substitute lawsuit containing 12 charges. US Attorney Damian Williams charged Bankman-Fried with eight counts of conspiracy-related fraud and four counts of wire and securities fraud.

As expected, the criminal trial against SBF is scheduled to begin in October Bankruptcy of FTX procedures are running.

Some observations on SBF and the crypto exchange FTX

Although Bankman-Fried has not made any public comments since Jan. 19, attorneys who have dealt with prominent corporate defendants warn that silencing them for long can be challenging, especially when they are used to to live in the limelight.

This is a potential problem for Bankman-Fried, who has had ties to the likes of the former president Clinton and former quarterback Tom Brady at the peak of its popularity.

In his public statements, the former FTX CEO tried to defend himself by saying that he had no intention of inflicting losses on FTX’s clients and, more importantly, alleging that he had done so no villain.

For example, just days before Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas, ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos asked him if he thought it was fair for people to compare him to him Bernie Madoff, one of the most notorious scammers in the world. Bankmann-Fried replied:

“I don’t think they are at all. But I understand why they say that. People lost money, they lost a lot of money.”