Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO and Founding father of FTX, walks close to the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., September 15, 2022.
Graeme Sloan | Sipa by means of AP Pictures
Sam Bankman-Fried informed Reuters he’s nonetheless within the Bahamas, as rumors swirled in a single day that the disgraced ex-CEO of the now-bankrupt crypto trade FTX had run off to South The united states.
FlightRadar24 tweeted early Saturday morning that the one-time crypto billionaire was once flying from Nassau to Argentina. The account cited tweets as its sourcing that it was once Bankman-Fried aboard the flight in query. (Argentina has an extradition treaty with the U.S. and performed an extradition as not too long ago as October, so it isn’t a really perfect vacation spot for somebody probably having a look to evade government within the U.S.)
Reuters requested Bankman-Fried whether or not he had flown to Argentina, and he spoke back, “Nope,” by way of textual content. He added that he remained within the Bahamas, which changed into his full-time place of dwelling closing 12 months.
Hypothesis over SBF’s (a nickname given to the previous FTX CEO) whereabouts come as government shut in on Bankman-Fried and his failed crypto empire.
On Thursday, Bankman-Fried tweeted that he could be winding down his buying and selling space, Alameda Analysis, after which on Friday, FTX — the virtual asset trade that Bankman-Fried based in 2019 — filed for Bankruptcy 11 chapter coverage within the U.S. That very same day, Bankman-Fried stepped down as CEO.
It was once an overly swift fall from grace for FTX this week.
Previous this 12 months, the trade was once valued at $32 billion, and Bankman-Fried was once billed as crypto’s white knight as he bailed out a couple of virtual asset corporations. Now, its ex-CEO is reportedly going through probes by way of the Division of Justice, the Securities and Alternate Fee, and the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee. In the meantime, the bankrupt trade seems to were the objective of a hack in a single day.
— CNBC’s David Sucherman contributed to this record.
