$500 Million Hack Against FTX Turns Out to Be Bahamas’ Regulator Seizing Assets

The cryptocurrency industry saw the spectacular collapse of one of its giants earlier this month, which ultimately resulted in FTX filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Shortly after, though, there were suspicious movements from one of its accounts, many related it to a hack or even an inside job.

• However, the Securities Commission of the Bahamas took it to Twitter to shed some more light on the events, informing that it was actually the watchdog that siphoned the funds.
• The statement reads that the Commission, “in the exercise of its powers as regulator acting under the authority of an Order made by the Supreme Court of the Bahamas, took the action of directing the transfer of all digital assets of FTX Digital Markets Ltd. to a digital wallet controlled by the Commission, for safekeeping.”
• The watchdog said its move was in line with its intentions to protect customers and creditors of the fallen exchange.
• Bahamas’ regulator added that it will cooperate with other global watchdogs to “address matters affecting the creditors, clients, and shareholders of FDM.”
• FTX filed for bankruptcy after Binance backed off from a potential acquisition deal in the middle of the month.
• A day later, reports started coming up that some of the SBF-founded exchange’s wallets were being drained, and the total amount neared $500 million at the time.
• Some speculated that this could be an inside job and warned that Bankman-Fried, who had stepped down as CEO recently, was trying to flee with the money.