Bahamas regulator is temporarily holding $3.5B FTX assets

Bahamas Securities Commission said it is temporarily holding FTX assets worth $3.5 billion with plans to distribute them to the bankrupt firm’s creditors and customers, according to a Dec. 29 statement.

The financial regulator said it had sought directions from the Bahamian Supreme Court on all its actions regarding FTX Digital Markets Ltd. It added that it commenced the first global action against an FTX entity by placing the firm under the control of a court-appointed fiduciary.

The commission transferred all digital assets under the control or custody of FTXDM or its principals to wallets controlled by the SCB on Nov. 12. This decision was made based on information provided by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried concerning cyberattacks against the bankrupt’s firm system,

The SCB wrote:

“The commission determined that there was a significant risk of imminent dissipation as to the digital assets under the custody or control of [FTX] to the prejudice of its customers and creditors.”

The regulator added that it had employed all necessary precautions to safeguard the assets in its custody.

The commission said it would follow the directive of the Bahamas Supreme Court to release the assets to creditors and customers that own them or the joint provisional liquidators.

The regulator reiterated that it did not direct FTX to prioritize withdrawals for Bahamas-based clients and noted that neither SBF nor Gary Wang has access to the assets.

FTX’s new management and the Bahamian authorities have been engaged in a war of words over the bankrupt firm’s assets. The exchange management alleged that the Bahamian government was responsible for the unauthorized access to the bankrupt firm’s systems after it filed for bankruptcy.

The Bahamas’ financial regulator countered that the allegations were made from information obtained from unreliable sources.