FTX: Bahamas investigating collapsed crypto platform

Authorities in the Bahamas are investigating if there was any "criminal misconduct" which led to the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, police said on Sunday. 

"In light of the collapse of FTX globally and the provisional liquidation of FTX Digital Markets Ltd., a team of financial investigators from the Financial Crimes Investigation Branch are working closely with the Bahamas Security Commission to investigate if any criminal misconduct occurred," the Royal Bahamas Police said in a statement.

The Bahamas-based exchange has recently seen at least $1 billion (€0.97 billion) of customer funds vanish from the platform, according to a Reuters report.

The Bahamas Securities Commission is investigating FTX on suspicions of misappropriating customer funds. The commission filed paperwork to appoint a receiver to oversee the liquidation and froze some FTX assets on Thursday.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the 30-year-old founder and former chief executive of FTX, lives in the Bahamas.

The fall of FTX

The FTX saga came to a head as traders rushed to withdraw $6 billion from the platform in just 72 hours, forcing the exchange to file for bankruptcy on Friday. Bankman-Fried resigned the same day.

The company's new CEO, John Ray, stated on Saturday that "every effort" was being made to protect all assets, following the transactions.

Rival exchange Binance offered to acquire FTX but rescinded the deal the next day.

Less than two weeks ago, FTX was worth $32 billion and considered the world's second-largest cryptocurrency platform.

ss/wd (AFP, Reuters, dpa)