Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Sam Bankman-Fried built the cryptocurrency exchange FTX on the reputation of his trading firm, Alameda Research LLC.Alameda was applying Wall Street-style wizardry to the crypto world—and outsiders thought it was winning big. But little was known beyond the firm about its trades, which included a lucrative early bet involving bitcoin in Japan. Alameda had no outside investors and didn’t disclose its performance. Before he was charged In December by federal prosecutors with…

A group of FTX’s international customers asked for a court order shielding their names from the public, spotlighting a privacy issue that has divided bankruptcy courts in other crypto-related cases. Unnamed customers of FTX.com, the failed company’s largest exchange platform outside the U.S., said in court papers Wednesday their interest in keeping their identities and contact information secret trumps the public’s interest in an open and transparent bankruptcy process. Public disclosure of customer…

Some customers with accounts stuck in failed cryptocurrency companies are choosing to take a big loss on their investments now to avoid dealing with uncertainties in drawn-out bankruptcies. At least hundreds of customers burned by the collapses of FTX, Celsius Network LLC and Voyager Digital Ltd. are seeking to sell their cryptocurrency claims at deep discounts so they don’t have to wait months or even years to see what they might recover as the platforms move through chapter 11. Some…

The collapse of several cryptocurrency platforms this year is testing the industry’s promise of user privacy as bankruptcy courts weigh if millions of individual customers’ identities should be revealed to the public. Hundreds of thousands of customers of Celsius Network LLC have already lost their anonymity because of its chapter 11 filing after a court ruling in September forced it to disclose its account holders’ names and coin balances. A different bankruptcy court is expected to consider next month…

Caroline Ellison, a close associate of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, apologized in court this week as she pleaded guilty to fraud and other offenses, telling a judge that she and others conspired to steal billions of dollars from customers of the doomed crypto exchange while misleading investors and lenders.“I am truly sorry for what I did,” Ms. Ellison, the former chief executive of Mr. Bankman-Fried’s crypto-trading firm, Alameda Research, said in a New…

NASSAU, Bahamas—FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried inched closer to being transferred into U.S. custody to face criminal charges related to the cryptocurrency exchange’s collapse, after a chaotic court hearing here Monday in which his local lawyer appeared at odds with his U.S. legal team. Mr. Bankman-Fried has agreed to be extradited, according to a person familiar with the matter, and plans were being fleshed out by his legal team after the day’s court…

Voyager resumed its search for a buyer after the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. In September, FTX beat Binance.US to win the auction for Voyager’s customer accounts with a purchase price of around $50 million and in a deal valued at $1.42 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported.  Binance.US will make a $10 million good faith deposit now, in U.S. dollars, and another $10 million deposit once the deal closes, Binance.US Chief Executive Brian Shroder said in an interview. It will also…

For many customers burned by the whirlwind collapse of FTX, the arrest of founder Sam Bankman-Fried offered them the chance to take a brief sigh of relief—but not much more.  Prosecutors and regulators alleged this week that Mr. Bankman-Fried stole billions of dollars from FTX customers in one of the biggest financial frauds in American history. Much of the money, they said, propped up trading firm Alameda Research, also largely owned by Mr. Bankman-Fried. For many customers burned by…

FTX was one of the largest overseas crypto exchanges, based on a Caribbean island with a friendly regulatory regime, and arguably beyond the reach of U.S. rules that govern how trading firms deal with investors and consumers. The lawsuits filed Tuesday show how U.S. regulators have found a way to police global crypto conduct they don’t closely regulate. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission alleged, for instance, that Bahamas-based FTX affected the price of commodities sold in the U.S. That gave the…

When Sam Bankman-Fried told his side of the story of what happened to FTX, the crypto exchange that went bankrupt on his watch last month, he often pointed the finger elsewhere. His favorite target was Alameda Research, the trading firm where Caroline Ellison was chief executive. This week, the U.S. government pointed back at Mr. Bankman-Fried. When Sam Bankman-Fried told his side of the story of what happened to FTX, the crypto exchange that went bankrupt on his watch last month, he…