Sam Bankman-Fried is being investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for potential violations of securities rules as the regulator deepens its probe into his crumbling FTX crypto empire, according to a person familiar with the matter.
FTX, the American platform FTX US, and Bankman-Fried’s trading house Alameda Research are already under investigation by the SEC. The US justice department is also looking into the situation.
The SEC is scrutinising Bankman-Fried’s involvement in recent moves that helped push FTX.com, one of the world’s largest exchanges, into a liquidity crisis, said the person, who asked not to be named discussing the confidential inquiry. As the crisis deepened on Thursday, the securities regulator for the Bahamas, where FTX.com is based, said it was freezing the firm’s assets and appointing a provisional liquidator.
Representatives for the SEC and FTX.com declined to comment. Bankman-Fried, 30, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment; nor did the FTX US exchange.
Read: FTX hurtles towards bankruptcy
US regulators have been looking into whether FTX.com mishandled customer funds, and reviewing the global trading platform’s relationships with other Bankman-Fried’s businesses. The SEC’s scrutiny started months ago as a probe into the FTX US platform and its crypto-lending activities, but in recent days has expanded.
Read: ‘I’m sorry, I f—ed up’: Inside the FTX collapse
The initiation of probes doesn’t necessarily mean that anyone will be accused of wrongdoing. — Lydia Beyoud and Olga Kharif, (c) 2022 Bloomberg LP
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