• U.S. Federal prosecutors have seized $697 million in assets belonging to Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the bankrupt crypto exchange, FTX.
• Assets were seized from Silvergate Bank, Moonstone Bank, Binance’s global platform, and Binance.US.
• Additionally, $500 million worth of Robinhood shares, primarily owned by Bankman-Fried, were seized by the Department of Justice.
The United States Federal prosecutors have recently confiscated $697 million in assets belonging to Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the bankrupt crypto exchange, FTX. This seizure was made from various financial firms, including Silvergate Bank, Moonstone Bank, Binance’s global platform, and Binance.US.
The U.S. Department of Justice also seized $500 million worth of Robinhood shares, primarily owned by Bankman-Fried. These shares were purchased in May 2022 and were kept as collateral for Alameda’s loan from BlockFi. Bankman-Fried has since offered to contribute nearly all of his personal Robinhood shares to FTX customers.
The confiscated assets are part of an ongoing investigation into Bankman-Fried’s financial activities. Authorities believe that the funds were used to purchase Robinhood shares, purchase cryptocurrencies, and invest in other ventures. FTX Digital Markets had three accounts on Silvergate Bank, which held more than $6 million. The assets from this platform were seized around January 11, 2023.
Moonstone Bank, which had connections to the FTX management, had nearly $50 million seized. Additionally, assets were recovered from Binance’s global platform, and Binance.US, the global exchange’s American arm. Three accounts belonging to Bankman-Fried were also seized, but the amount confiscated was not revealed by the authorities.
Bankman-Fried has been the majority owner and sole director of the Robinhood stake purchased via Emergent Fidelity Technologies. Reports claimed that these shares were purchased from money borrowed from Alameda – FTX’s investment arm. In a blog post, Bankman-Fried claimed that he has “offered to contribute nearly all of my personal shares in Robinhood to customers”.
The U.S. Federal prosecutors have confiscated a large sum of money belonging to Bankman-Fried as part of an ongoing investigation into his financial activities. As a result, FTX customers have been offered the opportunity to receive a portion of the Robinhood shares which were previously owned by Bankman-Fried. It remains to be seen whether this offer will be accepted, and what outcome the investigation will have on Bankman-Fried’s future.