Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has been taken into custody in the Bahamas after being criminally accused by US prosecutors.
This news comes after a remarkable journey for the 30-year old, who has shot to fame and fortune in the world of cryptocurrencies. To give a brief overview, here is a timeline of the significant events leading up to Bankman-Fried’s detainment.
2019
May: Wall Street trader Sam Bankman-Fried and Google employee Gary Wang launch the cryptocurrency exchange FTX.COM.
2021
July: FTX concludes a $900 million funding round, valuing the exchange at $18 billion.
September: FTX signs a sponsor agreement with the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
October: FTX raises capital with investors, valued at $25 billion by Singapore’s Temasek and Tiger Global.
2022
January 27th: After raising $400 million from SoftBank investors, FTX’s US arm is valued at $8 billion.
January 31: FTX raises $400 million from investors including SoftBank, valued at $32 billion.
June 4: FTX acquires naming rights of Miami Heat Basketball team’s home arena in a deal valued at $135 million.
July 1st: FTX agrees to buy BlockFi (a cryptocurrency lender) for up to $240 million.
July 22: FTX offers a partial rescue to the bankrupt crypto lending firm Voyager Digital, but Voyager calls it a “low offer”.
August 19: US banking regulator orders FTX to halt its operations after making “false and misleading” claims that its funds were insured.
November 2: News site Crypto CoinDesk reports that a leaked balance sheet shows Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried’s crypto trading firm, was heavily dependent on FTX’s native token FTT. This report was not verified by Reuters.
November 6th: Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao announces plans to liquidate FTT holdings due to “recent disclosures”.
November 7: Bankman-Fried declares “FTX is fine. The assets are good.”
November 8th: Binance reveals it is considering buying FTX.
November 9: Binance decides not to pursue a FTX bailout.
November 10: FTX suspends customer withdrawals and onboarding until further notice. In a memo, Bankman-Fried informs staff that he is having difficulty raising funds and has spoken with Tron founder Justin Sun.
November 11th: FTX and its US unit, cryptocurrency trading firm Alameda Research, file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US, along with 130 affiliates. Bankman-Fried steps down as CEO.
12th November: Reuters reports that at least $1 billion in client funds have vanished from FTX. The exchange claims it has detected unauthorized transactions. Blockchain analytics firms estimate outflows of between $473 million to $659 million under “suspicious circumstances.”
November 13: Bahamian securities regulators begin an investigation of FTX, which is based in the Caribbean nation.
November 15: Bahamian financial regulators appoint liquidators to manage FTX’s units in the country.
Nov. 16: FTX reveals a “severe liquidity crisis” in US bankruptcy filings, with the group possibly having more than a million creditors.
November 17: US House Committee on Financial Services announces it will hold a hearing in December to investigate the FTX collapse.
November 30: Bankman-Fried states in an interview with the New York Times Dealbook Summit that he “never intended to commit fraud.”
December 12th: Police arrest Bankman-Fried in the Bahamas and the US is likely to request his extradition. The US authorities declined to comment on any possible charges, but according to New York Times reports, the charges include wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy as well as securities fraud, securities conspiracy, money laundering, and securities fraud.
