Sam Bankman-Fried, cryptocurrency billionaire and major donor to Democratic causes, is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for potential violations of securities rules, according to Bloomberg.
Bankman-Fried, who was second only to George Soros amongst billionaire donors to Democratic groups in the 2022 midterm election cycle according to Forbes, is under investigation for his involvement in the ongoing liquidity crisis at the crypto exchange FTX, of which he’s founder and CEO, according to Bloomberg Thursday, citing an anonymous source familiar with the matter. The company allegedly loaned Alameda Research, a trading firm that Bankman-Fried founded, roughly $10 billion of its clients’ assets and has yet to pay back those loans following a series of high-risk trades, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing anonymous sources. (RELATED: Billionaire Dem Donor And Crypto CEO Allegedly Used Clients’ Money To Fund His Other Company: REPORT)
The Bahamas-based FTX had its assets frozen by the Securities Commission of the Bahamas, which appointed a provisional liquidator and pledged to work towards “the best possible outcome for the customers and other stakeholders of FTX,” according to a press release by the commission Thursday.
Interesting. @GaryGensler runs to the media while reports to my office allege he was helping SBF and FTX work on legal loopholes to obtain a regulatory monopoly. We’re looking into this. https://t.co/SznowgcP6V
— Tom Emmer (@RepTomEmmer) November 10, 2022
The investigation into the tech billionaire is an expansion of the SEC’s existing investigation of FTX and Alameda for allegedly mishandling clients’ funds, according to Bloomberg. The Department of Justice has also been investigating FTX for several months, and has been closely collaborating with the SEC, according to the WSJ Nov. 9.
Bankman-Fried apologized Thursday for the ongoing crisis, which had prevented customers from withdrawing their funds from FTX, but claimed that it would not impact the company’s U.S.-based exchange.
“This was about FTX International. FTX US, the US based exchange that accepts Americans, was not financially impacted by this,” Bankman-Fried tweeted Thursday. “Every user could fully withdraw… Updates on its future coming.”
Neither the SEC nor FTX immediately responded to a Daily Caller News Foundation request for comment. Alameda Research has taken its website private and the DCNF was unable to contact a representative.
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