The joint provisional liquidators of FTX Digital Markets — the firm’s subsidiary in the Bahamas — has released a report on the company’s physical assets in the island nation. According to affidavit filed by a PricewaterhouseCoopers partner with the Bahamas’ supreme court on Feb. 8, FTX’s joint provisional liquidators, or JPLs, said the company had purchased 52 properties in the Bahamas, including units “in the name of individual employees or relatives of SBF, despite FTX Digital providing the funding”. These properties, which included housing for FTX employees and commercial office space, were worth roughly $255 million and purchased by an …

Remember when Sam Bankman-Fried admitted to being a significant donor to the Democratic and Republican parties? Well, the recipients of the tainted money have been formally requested to return the funds to FTX’s creditors. So far, we know of three prominent Democratic groups — the DNC, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — that have returned SBF-linked donations in December 2022. Will the rest follow? As FTX seeks clawbacks, the Digital Currency Group and its bankrupt subsidiary, Genesis Global Trading, have agreed to a restructuring plan. The good news is that Genesis account holders will …

The collapse of FTX and related developments did more to pull up or push down the price of Bitcoin (BTC) throughout Q4, compared to macroeconomic events such as rate hikes, according to research. In a “State of Bitcoin Q4 2022” report published on Feb. 10, Messari research analysts Sami Kassab and Chris Collar found that the collapse of the exchange resulted in a 25% decrease in the price of Bitcoin. How did #Bitcoin fare in Q4 22' in the wake of unfavorable macro and crypto environments? +FTX collapse caused a 25% swing, affecting centralized entities/exchange balance +Annual performance down 64% …

Members of the crypto community are seemingly outraged over the recent charges laid against crypto exchange Kraken in relation to its staking-as-a-service program in the United States. On Feb. 9, the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it had settled charges with Kraken over “failing to register the offer and sale of their crypto asset staking-as-a-service program,” which it claims is qualified as securities under its purview. Kraken agreed to settle the charges by paying $30 million in fines and to immediately cease the staking services to U.S. retail investors, though it would continue to be offered offshore. The …

The CEO and co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, believes that banning retail crypto staking in the United States would be a ‘terrible’ move by the country's regulators. Armstrong made the comments in a Feb. 9 Twitter thread which has already been viewed over 2.2 million times, after noting they've heard “rumors” that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission “would like to get rid of crypto staking” for retail customers. “I hope that's not the case as I believe it would be a terrible path for the U.S. if that was allowed to happen.” Armstrong did not share where …

Robinhood’s board of directors has approved a plan to buy back the $578 million stake in their company which was bought by former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX co-founder Gary Wang last year. Robinhood confirmed it got board approval to buy back the stake in its fourth quarter report, which was published on Feb. 8. “Our Board authorized us to pursue purchasing most or all of our shares that Emergent Fidelity Technologies bought in May 2022," said Robinhood’s chief financial officer Jason Warnick, adding “The proposed share purchase underscores the confidence the Board of Directors and management team have …

The judge overseeing crypto exchange FTX’s bankruptcy case has granted a motion allowing the firm’s debtors to request subpoenas for information and documents from former colleagues and family members of Sam Bankman-Fried. In a Feb. 8 filing, Judge John Dorsey said FTX debtors were authorized under bankruptcy court rules to issue subpoenas to certain individuals “for the production of documents, electronically stored information, or tangible things”. The original motion filed on Jan. 25 defined the target of the subpoenas as insiders not “currently cooperating with the Debtors to provide important information” — a list which includes Bankman-Fried, former Alameda Research …

Wallets linked to now-bankrupt Alameda Research became active again on Feb. 7, transferring out millions worth of FTX exchange’s native token, FTX Token (FTT). The Alameda wallet activity post FTX bankruptcy filing has been a big concern for the crypto community, with many questioning the merits of the law enforcement agencies and how these wallets are being accessed. The Alameda address 'brokenfish.eth' transferred nearly $2 million worth of FTT tokens from BentoBox smart contract on Sushiswap. The smart contract in question serves as the central vault for the whole Sushi ecosystem. Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has a history with …

Lawyers representing bankrupt crypto broker Voyager Digital have served former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and other FTX and Alameda Research executives with subpoenas requesting information. The subpoenas have a very wide scope, with Voyager’s lawyers seeking copies of any documents and communication between FTX entities and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the Department of Justice (DOJ) according to the Feb. 6 filing. Amongst a plethora of other requested documents, the lawyers also want to see information relating to the loan portfolio between Alameda and Voyager as well as FTX’s financial condition before and after it filed for bankruptcy …

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 …

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 …

Fans watching the Kansas City Chiefs face off against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12 will reportedly not see a plethora of ad spots for cryptocurrency companies as they did in 2022. According to a Feb. 6 Associated Press report, there had been four potential deals with crypto firms for commercials costings roughly $6 to $7 million in the 2023 Super Bowl, all of which fell apart following the FTX bankruptcy filing in November. Fox Sports’ executive vice president of ad sales Mark Evans reportedly said there would be “zero representation” from major crypto companies on …