Sam Bankman-Fried, disgraced founder of the doomed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was arrested during the evening by Bahamian authorities. The arrest came after the U.S. told Bahamian officials that it has filed criminal charges against the erstwhile crypto billionaire often referred to by his initials, SBF.
Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, shared a sealed indictment with the Bahamian government, putting into motion the extradition process. Williams wrote on Twitter that he expects the government will unseal the indictment by the morning.
“The Bahamas and the United States have a shared interest in holding accountable all individuals associated with FTX who may have betrayed the public trust and broken the law,” Philip Davis, prime minister of the Bahamas, said in a statement. “While the United States is pursuing criminal charges against SBF individually, the Bahamas will continue its own regulatory and criminal investigations into the collapse of FTX, with the continued cooperation of its law enforcement and regulatory partners in the United States and elsewhere.”
Bankman-Fried’s FTX empire came crashing down last month due in part to a surge in customers trying to withdraw funds. The exchange’s demise shined a spotlight on the uncomfortable relationship between FTX and Bankman-Fried’s trading company, Alameda Research. Contagion, meanwhile, has since spread throughout the broader crypto industry.
Bankman-Fried was scheduled to testify virtually before the House Financial Services Committee tomorrow, though it’s unclear if that testimony will go forward.
This story is developing . . .
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Max Ufberg is a senior staff editor on Fast Company's technology section
