The Bahamas Securities And Exchange Commission declared that it has taken control of more than $3.5 billion worth of digital assets from the failed FTX crypto exchange. The regulator noted that the cryptocurrencies have been transferred to their wallets “for safekeeping” and “the Commission is keeping them on a temporary basis.”
Bahamian Regulator Obtains Control Over FTX Crypto Assets
The Securities And Exchange Commission of the Bahamas (SCB). On Thursday, the agency announced that it had been granted an order for the transfer of digital assets under its custody or control to FTX Digital Markets Ltd. (FTXDM), to secure wallets. FTX Digital Markets is the Bahamian subsidiary of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX Trading Ltd., which operates and owns the crypto trading platform FTX.com.
The SCB made the following statement on November 12:
The Commission… ordered the transfer of all digital assets held in custody or under the control of FTXDM and its principals, which were valued at more than $3.5 billion based on the market prices at the time. These digital assets will be transferred to digital wallets owned by the Commission. For safekeeping.
The Commission is exercising “its powers as a regulator acting on the authority of an order issued by the Supreme Court of the Bahamas.” The regulator emphasized that the process is not resulting in “the creation of additional tokens.”
The confiscated cryptocurrencies “are being held by the Commission on a temporary basis, until the Supreme Court of The Bahamas orders the Commission to turn them over to the customers and creditors who own them, or to the JPLs. [Joint Provisional Liquidators] to be managed under the rules governing the insolvency estate for the benefit of FTXDM’s clients and creditors”, clarified the regulator.
The Securities And Exchange Commission mentioned that the seizure happened “under a sealing order requested by the Commission and granted by the Supreme Court of the Bahamas” on November 16. Contrary to media reports, the regulator affirmed that:
The Commission in no way directed, authorized, or suggested to FTXDM prioritizing withdraws of Bahamian clients.
FTX filed for bankruptcy on November 11 and millions of investors and customers lost billions of dollars. Numerous fraud charges have been brought against the crypto company by regulators and the US government. Bankman-Fried. The former CEO of FTX was arrested in the Bahamas last week and extradited to the US. He is currently being held at his parent’s residence in Palo Alto, California, on a bail of $250 million.
What do you think? Are FTX crypto assets being confiscated by regulators for safekeeping? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
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