KingData News: Sam Bankman-Fried, the now-disgraced cryptocurrency mogul, held at least four meetings with senior White House officials this year — part of a push to influence crypto policy and build connections in Washington before his FTX empire ultimately collapsed. Bankman-Fried met Sept. 8 with Steve Ricchetti, one of President Joe Biden’s senior advisers, White House officials familiar with the matter said. The meeting, previously unreported, was the latest in a handful of sessions.

KingData News: Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang have pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges over their role in fraud which contributed to FTX’s implosion. US attorney Damian Williams said Wednesday that the Southern District of New York had filed charges against the pair, with both cooperating with authorities. Ellison collectively faces seven charges including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit both commodities and securities fraud. They carry a maximum sentence of 110 years in prison, according to a plea agreement with prosecutors. Wang, who served as chief technology officer at both FTX and Alameda, pleaded guilty to four counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud. He faces up to 50 years in prison, according to the Washington Post. They have both reportedly been released on a $250,000 bond.

KingData News: FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried inched closer to being transferred into U.S. custody to face criminal charges related to the cryptocurrency exchange’s collapse, after a chaotic court hearing here Monday in which his local lawyer appeared at odds with his U.S. legal team. Mr. Bankman-Fried has agreed to be extradited, according to a person familiar with the matter, and plans were being fleshed out by his legal team after the day’s court proceedings. Mr. Bankman-Fried’s lawyers hope to have a new hearing on the matter as early as Tuesday, the person said.

KingData News: Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, parents of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), are in the Bahamas and are suspected of being involved in SBF's business operations, Sky Australia reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. John Ray, the current CEO of FTX, also told a House hearing that an investigation is underway into what role SBF's parents, who had received payments, played at FTX.

KingData News: FTX has asked a federal court to allow the sale of four subsidiaries, including LedgerX, a U.S.-based derivatives unit, and Embed, an equity trading service, as well as FTX Japan and FTX Europe. attorneys representing FTX have filed motions to auction the four subsidiaries. If approved by the judge, and if there are no objections from other stakeholders, the bidding process and sale will take place in the first quarter of next year.

KingData News: At least $73 million of political donations tied to Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX may be at risk of being clawed back as bankruptcy lawyers sort through the remnants of his crypto empire in search of assets to repay creditors. The wide-ranging contributions from Bankman-Fried and two of his top lieutenants, Ryan Salame and Nishad Singh, include more than $6 million to a super political action committee for House Democrats, $3.5 million for the GOP’s Senate Leadership Fund and $3 million for a fund that backs Senate Democrats.

KingData News: Lawyers for the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX on Wednesday opposed a demand for internal records from an insolvent affiliate based in the Bahamas, saying they "do not trust" the Bahamian government with data that could be used to siphon off assets from the bankrupt company. Liquidators of FTX's Bahamian business, FTX Digital Markets, had asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey to give them access to the U.S. unit's Slack, Google and Amazon Web Services accounts and data.

KingData News: Digital asset custodian BitGo refused to allow Alameda Research to unwind $50 million worth of wrapped bitcoin days before the latter firm went into bankruptcy, BitGo CEO Mike Belshe said today in a Twitter Spaces hosted by crypto MakerDAO delegate and founder of Blec Report Chris Blec. BitGo is the custodian for WBTC, a tokenized version of bitcoin that can be deployed on the Ethereum network. Belshe said that someone from Alameda contacted BitGo about unwrapping 3,000 WBTC ($50 million) to get back bitcoin days before the Nov. 11 bankruptcy filing. He noted that the redemption request was unusual because it came from an Alameda representative that BitGo had not dealt with previously.

KingData News: The Securities Commission of Bahamas has slammed the current CEO of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX John J. Ray III for his statements regarding the ongoing investigation into FTX. In a press release sent to Cointelegraph, the Bahaman regulator didn't directly point toward the exact statements of the CEO, but addressed recent reports that suggest the Bahamas' government asked former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to create a new multi-million token and hand over the control to them. Addressing the rumors over digital assets custody, the press release noted that the authorities secured the transfer of potentially “commingled digital assets” of FTX exchange on orders issued by the supreme court of the Bahamas. The press release read:“The Commission holds those assets as trustee only (under Bahamian Law), and they will be ultimately distributed, to creditors and clients of FTX, wherever they may be located, in accordance with the court’s direction.”

KingData News: U.S. prosecutors charged Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, with a host of financial crimes and campaign finance violations on Tuesday, alleging he played a central role in the rapid collapse of FTX and hid its problems from the public and investors. The maximum potential prison exposure from these charges is 115 years, according to Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for U.S. prosecutors.

KingData News: According to Reuters, FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was arrested yesterday after his attorney requested $250,000 bail for his release. A Bahamian magistrate judge denied FTX founder SBF's request for bail, saying SBF should remain in custody in the Bahamas until February 8, 2023, and Judge Joyann Ferguson-Pratt ordered an extradition hearing for next February 8, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. EST.

KingData News: Charles Gasparino, a FOX Business journalist stated that there are speculations in legal circles that Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research is looking for a specialized lawyer. He suggested that Caroline is hiring politically connected WilmerHale. He added that WilmerHale holds deep ties to the Manhattan US Attorney’s office. While it is knowns for plea deals. Caroline’s this move suggests that she is likely to cooperate with the prosecutors to turn against SBF.

KingData News: Bahhamian lawyers say FTX executives Sam Bankman-Fried and Ryan Salame spent $256.3 million spent to buy and maintain 35 different properties across New Providence, Bahamas. Now, Bahamas regulators are trying to claw back the property from FTX’s U.S. bankruptcy protection proceedings, telling a Delaware federal bankruptcy judge that allowing the properties to be administered in U.S. courts would be both administratively ineffective and illegal under Bahamas law.

KingData News: According to U.S. bankruptcy court documents shared on Twitter by crypto KOL Autism Capital, an email disclosed in the document shows that SBF had indicated in an email exchange with Bahamian officials on November 10 at 2:27 UTC (November 10 at 10:27 GMT), the day before FTX's bankruptcy, that it could open up withdrawals for local users, allowing Bahamian users to access their full funds.

KingData News: The Bahamas Attorney General's Office announced the arrest of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) by the Royal Bahamas Police Force, according to a statement released by Bahamian Attorney General Ryan Pinder KC. Documents indicate that Bahamian police arrested SBF after receiving official notification from the United States that criminal charges had been filed against SBF and that extradition of SBF may be sought.

KingData News: Mr Bankman-Fried invited the BBC to the residential complex in the Bahamas where he still lives and said he hopes to find a way to pay back FTX users. "I'm going to be thinking about how we can help the world and if users haven't gotten much back, I'm going to be thinking about what I can do for them. And I think at the very least I have a duty to FTX users to do right by them as best as I can," he told me. Asked if he planned to start a new business venture to earn the money to pay investors back, he said: "I would give anything to be able to do that. And I'm going to try if I can." Asked whether he was fraudulent or incompetent, he replied: "I didn't knowingly commit fraud, I don't think I committed fraud, I didn't want any of this to happen. I was certainly not nearly as competent as I thought I was."

KingData News: The Kanto Regional Finance Bureau announced today on its official website that the cease and desist order on FTX Japan will be extended until March 9, 2023, unless the company is able to promptly return the margin entrusted to it by investors or the business related to OTC derivatives trading implemented by the company has undergone a proper and feasible overhaul. The cease and desist order ordered FTX Japan to cease its business related to OTC derivatives trading and custodial operations such as margin for investors associated with that business.

KingData News: CNBC host Ran Neuner tweeted that if the FTX exchange is launched and new FTT tokens are issued and distributed to creditors/depositors, 100% of the profits will be distributed to token holders. It would become the largest exchange in the world and users would be able to recoup more of their losses. SBF commented, "I still think this would be a productive avenue for all parties to explore, and I hope the existing team will do so."

KingData News: Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange FTX held talks to sponsor English Premier League teams Manchester United and Liverpool earlier this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The discussions underscore the now-bankrupt company’s ambitions to expand its global reach, and its willingness to spend significant sums of money to do so. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have begun investigating FTX’s collapse, a decline that included an unexplained $8 billion shortfall in funds, and the US Justice Department’s bankruptcy watchdog has called for an independent probe. Bankman-Fried is facing class-action lawsuits and regulatory probes by the SEC.

KingData News: FTX’s new management has hired a team of forensic investigators from advisory firm AlixPartners to help track the billions of dollars that have gone missing from the failed cryptocurrency exchange, people familiar with the matter said. The AlixPartners team is led by Matt Jacques, a former chief accountant for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement division, people familiar with the matter said. Mr. Jacques didn’t respond to a request for comment.

KingData News: Federal prosecutors are investigating whether FTX’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, manipulated the market for two cryptocurrencies this past spring, leading to their collapse and creating a domino effect that eventually caused the implosion of his own cryptocurrency exchange last month, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. U.S. prosecutors in Manhattan are examining the possibility that Mr. Bankman-Fried steered the prices of two interlinked currencies, TerraUSD and Luna, to benefit the entities he controlled, including FTX and Alameda Research, a hedge fund he co-founded and owned, the people said. The investigation is in its early stages, and it is not clear whether prosecutors have determined any wrongdoing by Mr. Bankman-Fried, or when they began looking at the TerraUSD and Luna trades.

KingData News: This week, an FTX insider speaking to Bitcoin.com News under terms of anonymity shared a document that purportedly shows Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison’s personal account was in the hole by $1.31 billion in May 2022.

KingData News: Zhu Su, co-founder of Three Arrows Capital, tweeted that when SBF talked about why market hedging doesn't work, it is now clear that he sold and shorted all his clients' holdings of BTC and ETH assets in exchange for SOL and FTT. This is not just a crime agst clients its a crime agst crypto, he internalized billions of client buy flow for actual coins into his own shitcoins.

KingData News: U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Maxine Waters tweeted that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has enough knowledge to testify before the House Financial Services Committee, "Based on your role as CEO and your media interviews over the past few weeks, it’s clear to us that the information you have thus far is sufficient for testimony. The collapse of FTX has harmed over one million people. Your testimony would not only be meaningful to Members of Congress, but is also critical to the American people. It is imperative that you attend our hearing on the 13th, and we are willing to schedule continued hearings if there is more information to be shared later." As previously reported, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing titled "Investigating the Collapse of FTX, Part I" on Dec. 13.

KingData News: Crypto KOL Autism Capital tweeted that a user claimed they saw Caroline Ellison, the former head of Alameda Research's investment division, at Ground Support Coffee on Manhattan's SoHo West Side on Dec. 4, meaning she was not in Hong Kong, but in New York and not in custody.

KingData News: SBF, the former CEO of FTX, tweeted that once I have finished learning and reviewing what happened, I would feel like it was my duty to appear before the committee and explain. I'm not sure that will happen by the 13th. But when it does, I will testify. As previously announced, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee invited SBF to testify at a hearing on the FTX matter on December 13.

KingData News: A U.S. Justice Department bankruptcy watchdog called for an independent investigation into FTX’s collapse, comparing the cryptocurrency platform’s sudden failure to the fall of Lehman Brothers. U.S. Trustee Andrew Vara, an official at the Justice Department unit monitoring bankruptcy courts, asked the judge overseeing FTX’s chapter 11 case to appoint an independent examiner to provide a transparent account of FTX’s failure because of the wider implications the exchange’s collapse has on the crypto industry.

KingData News: The regulatory legislation supported by embattled former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried will be back in the spotlight during the first congressional hearing on FTX’s collapse. Though the Senate bill’s authors have pledged to push forward on the bill, to create guardrails for U.S. consumers against crypto collapses similar to FTX’s, other senators aren’t sure about moving forward with the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act. The bill, which was a major topic during Bankman-Fried’s numerous visits to Washington over the last several months, will be a major topic of conversation during today’s hearing.

KingData News: ZhuSu, the former founder of Three Arrows Capital, tweeted that FTX and Alameda were commingled since inception. SBF has been insolvent since July and has engaged in a number of crazy behaviors, including: false bailouts of lenders; raising the next round of funding to anger former investors, etc. Zhu Su also said that understanding the origins of FTT, Alameda/FTX's entire business model is to provide short-term liquidity on losses to other trading firms to attract volume and traders, and then earn back profits through predatory free trading.

KingData News: LedgerX -- one of the few corners of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crumbled crypto empire that remain solvent -- is preparing to make available $175 million for use in FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The money, which could be transferred as soon as Wednesday, comes from a $250 million fund that LedgerX had set aside for a bid to get regulatory approval to clear crypto derivatives trades without intermediaries. The firm, which is known as FTX US Derivatives, withdrew its application with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission as more than 100 FTX entities filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11.

KingData News: In an interview with Tiffany Fong, FTX founder SBF expressed extreme regret for starting bankruptcy proceedings, claiming that "8 minutes after signing bankruptcy proceedings, there was a $4 billion liquidity replenishment"; that FTX US users were expected to get 100% of their money back and FTX users were expected to get 1/4 of their money back; and that FTX US was always 100% in reserve, even after hackers stole $250 million, it was still fully reserved.

KingData News: Defunct cryptocurrency company FTX announced today that it would resume "ordinary course payments" of salary and benefits to employees worldwide and certain non-U.S. contractors. The announcement comes a week after FTX's legal counsel filed a motion to pay compensation, benefits, and relief to its employees and vendors. In the motion, FTX said that the company would not pay anything to Sam Bankman-Fried, Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, Caroline Ellison, or "any who have a familial relationship."

KingData News: Türkiye launched an investigation on Samuel Bankman-Fried, former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, over fraud allegations, the country's Treasury and Finance Ministry announced on Wednesday. Turkish authorities also seized the assets of Bankman-Fried and other affiliates amid the investigation. Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati said the probe was launched by the country's Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK). Underlining the risks that digitalization has brought along with opportunities, Nebati said the cryptocurrency market should be approached with "maximum caution."

KingData News: FTX has agreed to hire BitGo to hold its $740 million of remaining digital assets in cold wallets. FTX notified a federal judge that it wants BitGo to safeguard its remaining digital assets as bankruptcy proceedings play out. A custodial services agreement with BitGo was signed Nov. 13, approximately one day after someone completed “unauthorized transfers” draining $372 million worth of assets from FTX accounts. FTX has agreed to pay a $5 million upfront fee to BitGo, and the company will charge FTX a monthly fee equal to the average U.S. dollar value of the digital assets held, multiplied by 1.5 basis points. In their filing announcing the deal, lawyers for the company estimate it will cost FTX approximately $100,000 per month, based on the initial transfer of $740 million worth of assets to BitGo as of Nov. 16.

KingData News: A string of high-profile crypto crises could set the industry back by almost a decade, according to the co-founder of Three Arrows Capital, whose June implosion was one of the largest hedge-fund trading busts. In addition, Zhu Su said that after months of reflecting on the failure of Three Arrows Capital, it is considering a new trading entity, possibly a fund that invests in both crypto and traditional assets.

KingData News: FTX creditors, including rich investors who don’t want their names made public, can remain anonymous and still participate in the company’s bankruptcy case for now, a judge ruled at the company’s first court hearing Tuesday. US Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey agreed to let the fallen crypto exchange redact the names of the 50 biggest unsecured creditors owed a total of $3.1 billion. The US Bankruptcy Code normally requires the names be filed in documents available to the public. Representatives for FTX argued those creditors are also customers and disclosure would allow rivals to steal their business.

KingData News: Apple is near to a deal for the book rights to Lewis’ story about fallen crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried and his FTX empire. When the deal closes at what sources peg at mid-seven figures, the streamer will have beaten out considerable competition from the likes of Netflix and Amazon for the project.

KingData News: Justin Sun said his associates were evaluating potential purchases of assets from Sam Bankman-Fried’s collapsed FTX empire. “We are open to any kind of deal. I think all the options [are] on the table,” Mr. Sun told reporters in Singapore Tuesday. “Right now we are evaluating assets one by one, but as far as I understand the process is going to be long since they are already in this kind of bankruptcy procedure.”

KingData News: FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried "froze up in the face of pressure" as his company collapsed, he wrote in a new letter sent to employees of the company he once helmed. He did not address allegations that FTX diverted customer and corporate funds to prop up Bankman-Fried's Alameda Research, revelations that Alameda had an exemption from FTX's normal liquidation process or statements that Alameda had loaned funds to FTX officials including himself. According to Bankman-Fried, FTX had around $60 billion in collateral and $2 billion in liabilities this spring, but a market crash meant the collateral's value was halved. The "drying up" of credit in the industry further meant FTX's collateral was worth around $25 billion, though his liabilities measurement jumped to $8 billion. Another crash in November "led to another roughly 50% reduction in the value of collateral over a very short period of time," which he valued at $17 billion at the time. The bank run, caused by what Bankman-Fried termed "attacks" in November, reduced another $8 billion in collateral, he said.

KingData News: According to the Australian Financial Review (AFR), KordaMentha, the restructuring management company for FTX Australia and FTX Express, the two related entities in Australia associated with FTX, has confirmed that there is $3 million in the FTX Australia account and $39 million in the account associated with FTX Express. The first meeting of creditors will be held next Thursday, and in addition, the restructuring company confirmed that a total of 29,234 independent customers have been identified as having lost significant property.

KingData News: Cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which has filed for U.S. bankruptcy court protection, had a total cash balance of $1.24 billion as of Nov. 20, according to a court filing on Monday. FTX will see a drop in its cash flow by $20 million to $459 million by Dec. 23, from $479 million as of Nov. 25, the filing said. In an earlier court filing, FTX had said that it owes its 50 biggest creditors nearly $3.1 billion.

KingData News: In a motion filed yesterday in the Delaware district court, the bankruptcy pros now managing Bankman-Fried’s companies said that the entities’ 2021 tax returns collectively showed a net operating loss carryover of $3.7 billion. That means his businesses, which primarily consist of trading firm Alameda Research, founded in 2017, and cryptocurrency exchange FTX, launched in 2019, had posted a net loss of $3.7 billion since their inception.

KingData News: FTX Japan has cash and deposits of ¥19.6 billion (US$140 million) and equity capital of about ¥10 billion, disclosures show. It holds crypto assets for more than 100,000 customers, but has more assets than liabilities. The Japanese unit reportedly has been approached by at least one potential buyer through an investment bank. Parent company FTX Trading said on Saturday it was launching a strategic review of global assets following a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing in the US.

KingData News: Cryptocurrency investors in Korea, Singapore and Japan were the biggest users of the now bankrupt FTX.com exchange based on the number of monthly unique visitors from January to October 2022, according to a report by crypto pricing and analytics service CoinGecko. The three Asian countries had a combined 15.7% of FTX’s total traffic in the period, with South Korea having the highest 6.1% representing 297,229 unique monthly users, CoinGecko data shows. Singapore was the runner-up with 241,675 monthly average unique users or 5% of the traffic on FTX.com. Japan was third with 4.6% making up 223,513 monthly users.

KingData News: John J. Ray III, FTX's new chief executive officer and chief restructuring officer, was paid $1,300 an hour and billed at least monthly, according to U.S. Bankruptcy Court filings in Delaware. The document states, "The services of John J. Ray III are retained pursuant to an engagement letter (CEO Engagement Letter) between Owl Hill Advisory, LLC and the Debtors. Under the terms of the CEO Engagement Letter, Owl Hill will provide Ray's services as CEO of the Debtors, but Mr. Ray will remain an employee of Owl Hill and the Debtors will pay the current hourly rate of $1,300 per hour under the CEO Engagement Letter."

KingData News: Cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which has filed for U.S. bankruptcy court protection, said it owes its 50 biggest creditors nearly $3.1 billion. The exchange owes about $1.45 billion to its top ten creditors, it said in a court filing on Saturday, without naming them. FTX and its affiliates filed for bankruptcy in Delaware on Nov. 11.

KingData News: While investors are eager to know when they will be able to get their funds back from the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, insolvency lawyers warn it could take “decades.” Insolvency lawyer Stephen Earel, partner at Co Cordis in Australia said it will be an “enormous exercise” in the liquidation process to “realize” the crypto assets then work out how to distribute the funds, with the process potentially taking years, if not “decades.” This is due to the complexities that come with cross-border insolvency issues and competing jurisdictions, he said.

KingData News: FTX tweeted that exchanges should be aware that certain funds transferred from FTX Global and related debtors without authorization on 11/11/22 are being transferred to them through intermediate wallets. Exchanges should take all measures to secure these funds to be returned to the bankruptcy estate.

KingData News: FTX and approximately 101 additional affiliated companies, today announced that as a part of the Chapter 11 process, they are launching a strategic review of their global assets to begin to maximize recoverable value for stakeholders. The FTX Debtors have engaged Perella Weinberg Partners LP as lead investment bank and commenced preparation of certain businesses for sale or reorganization. The engagement of PWP is subject to Court approval. "Based on our review over the past week, we are pleased to learn that many regulated or licensed subsidiaries of FTX, within and outside of the United States, have solvent balance sheets, responsible management and valuable franchises," said Mr. John J. Ray, III. "Either way, it will be a priority of ours in the coming weeks to explore sales, recapitalizations or other strategic transactions with respect to these subsidiaries, and others that we identify as our work continues."

KingData News: At least some of the millions of dollars in FTX customer funds mysteriously moved off the exchange last week were moved at the direction of regulators in the Bahamas. That assertion was made in a new filing by the embattled company, and confirmed late on Thursday by the Securities Commission of the Bahamas itself. "[There is] credible evidence that the Bahamian government is responsible for directing unauthorized access to the Debtors' systems for the purpose of obtaining digital assets of the Debtors—that took place after the commencement of these cases," read the filing, signed by new FTX CEO John Ray. As previously reported, FTX accused the Bahamian government of gaining unauthorized access to the FTX system to withdraw assets after the company filed for bankruptcy. FTX said it was instructed by Bahamian regulators to make "specific post-application transfers of funds. The country has previously denied the allegations.