Police in the Bahamas have arrested Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency firm FTX.
The country’s attorney general said the Bahamas had received formal notification from the United States that criminal charges had been filed against him.
FTX, the second largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, file for bankruptcy protection last month in the U.S. and Fry the banker The resignation as chief executive sparked a wave of public demands for greater regulation of the cryptocurrency industry.
The struggling cryptocurrency exchange struggled to raise funds to avoid collapse as traders withdrew $6bn (£4.89bn) from the platform in just 72 hours.
More than 1 million customers worldwide use his platform to purchase assets such as Bitcoin.
Bankman-Fried — known as “SBF” — has become one of the biggest names in the cryptocurrency industry, with his firm stepping in quickly to save smaller companies after they were near bankruptcy.
But in just three days, a series of bombshell allegations caused FTX to crash and go bankrupt.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, New York, confirmed that Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas, but declined to comment on the charges.
Image: Associated Press
FTX was founded to allow people to buy cryptocurrencies using British pounds and U.S. dollars. It’s been praised for its easy-to-use interface – and makes money by charging a small fee for each transaction.
In a series of interviews and public appearances in late November and December, Bankman-Fried acknowledged the risks
Management lapses, but denies fraud allegations.