Police in the Bahamas have arrested Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency firm FTX.
The country’s attorney general said the Bahamas had received formal notification from the United States that criminal charges had been filed against him.
FTX, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency exchange, filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States last month. Fry the banker The resignation as chief executive sparked a wave of public demands for greater regulation of the cryptocurrency industry.
The struggling cryptocurrency exchange struggled to raise funds to avoid collapse as traders withdrew $6bn (£4.89bn) from the platform in just 72 hours.
More than 1 million customers worldwide use his platform to purchase assets such as Bitcoin.
read more: Major Cryptocurrency Exchange FTX Begins Bankruptcy Proceedings in the US
Bankman-Fried — known as “SBF” — has become one of the biggest names in the cryptocurrency industry, with his firm stepping in quickly to save smaller companies after they were near bankruptcy.
But in just three days, a series of bombshell allegations caused FTX to crash and go bankrupt.
Image: Associated Press
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan confirmed that Bankman-Freed had been arrested in the Bahamas, but declined to comment on the charges.
“Based on the notice received and the material presented therein, it is appropriate for the Attorney General to seek the arrest and detention of SBF under our country’s extradition laws,” said the office of Bahamas Attorney General Ryan Pinder.
FTX was founded to allow people to buy cryptocurrencies using British pounds and U.S. dollars. It’s been praised for its easy-to-use interface – and makes money by charging a small fee for each transaction.