SEC Probing FTX Liquidity Crunch, Sam Bankman-Fried Crypto Empire

FTX SEC Probe news: Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX is now under the crosshairs of the US SEC and CFTC after the exchange’s liquidity crisis played out. The US regulators are probing the manner in which FTX handled user assets. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is also looking at the links between FTX and other entities belonging to Sam Bankman-Fried. According to a Bloomberg report, the probe is focused on the lead up to the liquidity crunch at the crypto exchange.

FTX SEC Probe: Where Is It Heading?

The report quoted people in the know of things in the FTX SEC probe as saying the focus is on FTX US entity and Alameda Research. Other reports suggested earlier that FTX has had more trouble behind the scenes in recent times. Alameda Research was reportedly in troubled waters earlier this year but it was bailed out by FTX’s funds. As per CoinMetrics data, Alameda Research was already in trouble in the second quarter after the Three Arrows Capital (3AC) collpase.

The SEC probe into the Sam Bankman-Fried company began long before the FTX meltdown happened. As per insider information, the investigation was launched several months ago. They said the probe was centered around the crypto transaction activity of the US arm of FTX. Meanwhile, the FTX token (FTT) crashed after news of Binance potential acquisition of FTX broke. As of writing, FTT price stands at $4.14, down 79.02% in the last 24 hours, according to price tracking platform CoinMarketCap.

FTX Market Value Estimation

In a latest update, Bloomberg is reportedly estimating that FTX is now effectively crashed to the bottom. According to Bloomberg estimates, FTX is now worth just $1, down from $32 billion.

Meanwhile, latest reports suggest Binance is highly unlikely to proceed with its proposed acquisition of troubled exchange FTX. The deal might not happen considering the initial assessment of FTX’s internal data and loan agreements.