FTX, which was once among the top cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, essentially collapsed this week. For a brief while, it appeared that rival Binance would step in to buy FTX, but after seeing FTX’s financial records, Binance quickly withdrew.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, is reportedly flying to Argentina, although this information is yet to be officially confirmed. FTX and the FTX US wallet were reportedly the target of a hack that involved the transfer of approximately $600 million in tokens.
Assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars vanished from the troubled cryptocurrency exchange FTX on Friday, according to exchange officials, in what may have been a “hacking” event.
FTX said on Friday that it was investigating a spate of “unusual” asset transfers into the accounts.
The company is already in a worst state of financial and reputational free fall. A further examination seems to indicate that up to $600 million might have been stolen.
The company’s general counsel Raine Miller tweeted, “Investigating abnormalities with wallet movements related to consolidation of FTX balances across exchanges – obscure facts as to other movements unclear. Will share as soon as we have more information.”
The crypto industry as a whole has suspicions that the hack may have been carried out by insiders. However, because there isn’t any conclusive evidence to support the identity of the hacker, the accusations made on social media remain speculative. Many FTX customers have reported seeing $0 balances in their FTX.com and FTX US wallets on Twitter.
Due to a severe liquidity crisis, Mr. Bankman-Fried resigned as CEO of FTX on Saturday morning, and Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings were initiated. Meanwhile, John J. Ray III has been selected to lead the FTX Group as CEO.
