It is noteworthy that the investigation into the FTX affair has already revealed a number of interesting details. In particular, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission, FTX, along with its users’ funds, was essentially a bank for trading company Alameda Research. The reason is that Alameda representatives did not pay interest on FTX loans.

Details of the case on the problems of FTX and its relationship with Alameda Research

The author of such an idea was Bankman-Fried. It was he who suggested transferring Alameda Research to a special account that would not charge interest on the loans. The funny thing is that the separate account was needed because FTX was charging fees by default. At the same time Alameda had $8 billion in liabilities, so it “saved” the company a lot of money.

Here’s another important quote from the relevant document.

Around May 2022, during the collapse of crypto-assets, several of these lenders demanded that Alameda re-pay. As Alameda did not have enough assets to cover the liabilities, Bankman-Fried instructed Alameda to use its “line of credit” from FTX. And so billions of dollars of FTX client funds were transferred to Alameda and used by Alameda to repay its loan obligations to third parties

In other words, Sam could have agreed to bankrupt Alameda Research in the first half of 2022. However, he decided to help his colleagues with money, with the illegal way of mixing personal funds of FTX crypto exchange users. So now he faces serious legal consequences.

What’s going to happen to Sam Bankman-Fried?

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York is charging Bankman-Fried with the following counts:

• Conspiracy to commit fraud by electronic means;
• fraudulent conduct to customers by electronic means;
• conspiracy to commit fraud against creditors;
• conspiracy to commit product fraud;
• conspiracy to commit securities fraud; conspiracy to commit securities fraud;
• money laundering;
• defrauding the US and violating campaign finance laws.

The arrest of Sam Bankman-Friede

In addition to this “track record”, to the allegations against Bunkman-Fried is worth adding an announcement by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, published on the regulator’s website on 13 December. Here is the relevant rejoinder.

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Samuel Bankman-Fried with orchestrating a scheme to defraud investors in FTX Trading Ltd.

According to Decrypt’s sources, the SEC is continuing to investigate Sam and people close to him in FTX’s senior management circle. It is possible that the list of allegations against Bankman-Fried will expand in the near future. And that’s without taking into account the already announced charges from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as the regulator also suspects Sam of fraud.

Best of all, Sam has already appeared before Congress almost a year ago as the reputable founder of one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges

The official charges imply that the former FTX CEO and founder of the closely-held trading firm Alameda Research is indeed responsible for the collapse of his “crypto empire”. Since the official announcement of FTX’s bankruptcy, Sam has repeatedly tried to make himself look like a victim of circumstance, giving interviews to numerous media outlets. Incidentally, some news outlets have long portrayed Bankman-Friede in exactly this light.

😈 YOU CAN FIND MORE ON OUR YANDEX.ZEN!

Bankman-Friede’s arrest and the charges against him are expected news for many in the crypto community and beyond. Here’s how Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis, who has been a frequent supporter of the crypto industry in the past, commented on what happened.

What happened with FTX sounds like good old fashioned fraud and I’m glad prosecutors are investigating what happened. This is to make sure that all those who committed crimes are held accountable for what they have done.

Cynthia Lummis’ tweet

Other commentators on Twitter have been suspicious about the timing of Bankman-Friede’s arrest. Here, for example, is a tweet by Vaneck advisor Gabor Gurbach.

A question worth wondering is what exactly did Sam Bunkman-Fried know if he was arrested the night before he testified to the US Congress under oath? What kind of information needed to be protected from our high-ranking elected leaders and the public? Think about it.

Sam had previously been a prominent lobbyist in various political campaigns within the US. And while it used to be believed that Bunkman-Fried only supported Democrats with his “charitable contributions”, already after the collapse of FTX he claimed to have given money to Republicans as well. Which means the connection between some politicians and the bankruptcy of the exchange may be much deeper than meets the eye.

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has made another disturbing suggestion. Here’s his rejoinder.

Given all the ties to politicians and his donations, Sam Bankman-Fried would do well to declare his good health and lack of suicidal tendencies.

FTX platform founder Sam Bankman-Fried

This is a hint of a possible sudden death for Sam, if indeed he might reveal important information during his testimony. One more thing is important here: as crypto-enthusiast Jameson Lopp pointed out, “Sam’s PR campaign is already over. The prosecutors and other authorities will now get to the bottom of what happened, and the affected investors are one step closer to being compensated for their losses.


It seems that the blockchain community as a whole did not expect Sam Bankman-Friede to be arrested so quickly, but in the end is still happy with what is happening. Further investigation awaits, while Sam himself will be held by the Department of Corrections until 8 February 2023. Apparently, during that time, the world will learn other details that will reveal ethics issues in the management of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and trading platform Alameda Research.


Look for even more interesting things in our millionaires cryptochat. Discuss other important news from the blockchain world there.