SIMONE DEL ROSARIO: IT’S NINE LONG MONTHS BEFORE FTX FOUNDER SAM BANKMAN-FRIED WILL FACE TRIAL IN ONE OF THE BIGGEST FRAUD CASES IN MORE THAN A DECADE.
BUT EVERYDAY IT SEEMS SOMETHING NEW COMES OUT OF THE COLLAPSED CRYPTO EXCHANGE.
HERE’S THE LATEST.
FTX REPORTS IT’S RECOVERED $5.5 BILLION IN LIQUID ASSETS TO DATE, 3.5 OF WHICH CAME FROM CRYPTO TOKENS LIKE SOLANA AND FTX’S OWN FTT.
THEY ALSO TOLD CREDITORS THAT $415 MILLION IN CRYPTOCURRENCY WAS STOLEN FROM EXCHANGES IN HACKS.
BASED ON THE FUNDS IN FTX EXCHANGES, FTX SAYS THERE’S STILL A SUBSTANTIAL SHORTFALL OF DIGITAL ASSETS.
BUT FOUNDER BANKMAN-FRIED – WHO’S BEEN CUT OFF FROM THE COMPANY LEDGERS SINCE NOVEMBER, CALLS PARTS OF THE REPORT EXTREMELY MISLEADING.
HE SAYS FTX US IS SOLVENT, LIKELY WITH HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN EXCESS OF CUSTOMER BALANCES.
MEANWHILE, SBF FACES EIGHT CRIMINAL COUNTS RELATING TO FRAUD, MONEY LAUNDERING AND VIOLATING CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS.
WE’VE KNOWN THAT SBF AND OTHER FTX EXECUTIVES HAVE MADE SIGNIFICANT POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS.
BUT NEW REPORTING FROM COINDESK REVEALS THAT MORE THAN 1 IN 3 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS HAVE RECEIVED CAMPAIGN DONATIONS.
THE 196 MEMBERS RANGE FROM REPUBLICAN HOUSE SPEAKER KEVIN MCCARTHY TO DEMOCRATIC SENATE MAJORITY LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER, ALL THE WAY DOWN TO NEW MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.
COINDESK REACHED OUT TO ALL OF THEM, AND SAID MANY WHO RESPONDED SAY THEY’VE HANDED THE FUNDS OVER TO CHARITIES, WHILE OTHERS HAVE SET ASIDE THE FUNDS TO COMPENSATE FTX VICTIMS.
THE SUDDEN FTX COLLAPSE CRATERED THE CRYPTOCURRENCY SPHERE IN NOVEMBER, WITH TOKENS AND EXCHANGES DIVING IN VALUE AND STABILITY IN THE DAYS AND WEEKS THAT FOLLOWED.
BUT THIS WEEK, BITCOIN HAS LIFTED ABOVE $21K – RECOVERING ALL OF ITS LOSSES SINCE THE FTX COLLAPSE.
OTHER COINS ARE FOLLOWING SUIT.
EVEN FTX’S OWN FTT TOKEN IS UP 150% IN JANUARY.
I’M SIMONE DEL ROSARIO. IN NEW YORK IT’S JUST BUSINESS.