Authorities across the world have been moving in on FTX which is facing investigations and asset freezes, all while attempting to fill a multi-billion dollar liquidity gap.
Regulators worldwide have been making moves against Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX, especially following revelations of its apparent liquidity crisis.
In the US, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been probing founder Bankman-Fried over his involvement during the crypto exchange’s fall, including potential mishandling of customer funds and the global trading platform’s relationships with his other businesses, accordinf to a «Bloomberg» report.
Japan Crackdown
In Japan, authorities also instructed a local FTX unit to pause client services until December 9, according to a statement by the Japanese Financial Services Agency, while also prohibiting the acceptance of new clients during the period.
«We need to do everything possible to protect the interests of FTX Japan’s users,» said finance minister Shunichi Suzuki at a news briefing.
Japanese law requires crypto exchanges to manage user assets separately from their own, which provides a certain level of investor protection.
Bahama Assets Frozen
And in the Bahamas – FTX’s headquarter location – the local securities regulator said that it was freezing the assets of FTX Digital Markets and «related parties», placing the firm into receivership and appointing a provisional liquidator.
According to the Bahamas Securities Commission, the move is «the prudent course of action» to preserve assets and stabilize the company.
Rescue Funds
The sequence of regulatory moves marks yet another dramatic turn of events for FTX, which just saw Binance pull out from a takeover offer just one day after signing a non-binding agreement for acquisition.
FTX is also reportedly pushing to raise $9.4 billion as Bankman-Fried seeks to save the firm, according to report by «Reuters». The FTX founder has discussed raising $1 billion each from Justin Sun, the founder of crypto token Tron, rival exchange OKX and stablecoin platform Tether, and the remainder from current investors including venture capital fund Sequoia Capital.
