The honeymoon between FTX CEO, SBF, and the Bahamas appears to be ended. On Thursday, the West Indian country’s Securities Commission issued a directive to freeze the assets of the troubled cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
The Securities Commission of The Bahamas stated in a statement, “Today the Securities Commission of The Bahamas took action to freeze assets of FTX Digital Markets and related parties.” The commission also suspended FTX’s operation registration and requested that a provisional liquidator be appointed by the Supreme Court of The Bahamas, according to the statement.
The letter, which was shared by the Nassau Guardian on Twitter, comes after a week of difficulties for Sam Bankman-Fried, a former cryptocurrency darling, and SBF’s exchange, previously among the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.
The organization claimed to be aware of claims that FTX’s assets were handled, managed, or given to Alameda Research improperly. The commission stated that FTX Digital Markets should be placed into provisional liquidation to “preserve assets and stabilize the company” and that these activities may have been illegal.
The agency further stated,
“The Commission is committed to working with the provisional liquidator to endeavor to obtain the best possible outcome for the customers and other stakeholders of FTX.”
On November 6, 2022, Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao announced that the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world was selling its holdings of FTT, the native token of competitor exchange FTX. This is when the global exchange’s problems started.
Approximately 23 million FTT tokens, valued at $529 million, were held by Binance, according to Investopedia. FTT’s value dropped by 85.6% and is currently trading at $3.43, down from $24.01 the previous week, when Binance said it was liquidating its entire investment, triggering a run on the exchange.
FTX And Bahamas: A Short Lived Love Story
After relocating from Hong Kong, SBF’s exchange inaugurated its new offices there in September 2021, citing the Bahamas as one of the few nations that have established a thorough framework for cryptocurrencies.
The Bahamas has embraced digital currency, even introducing the Sand Dollar as its official digital currency. Companies like OKX and SBF’s global exchange built headquarters in the island nation thanks to welcoming crypto rules.
Sam Bankman-Fried conducted a four-day seminar in the Bahamas in May of this year while the exchange was still settling into its new home there. Along with Wall Street, other notable attendees included Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Andrew Yang, Orlando Bloom, Apolo Ohno, Rick Fox, Udonis Haslem, and Liam Payne from One Direction.