EXPLAINER: What's happening at bankrupt crypto exchange FTX?
The imploding cryptocurrency trading firm FTX is now short billions of dollars after experiencing the crypto equivalent of a bank run.
The exchange, formerly one of the world's largest, sought bankruptcy protection last week, and its CEO and founder resigned.
Hours later, the trading firm said there had been “unauthorised access” and that funds had disappeared. Analysts say hundreds of millions of dollars may have vanished.
The unravelling of the once-giant exchange is sending shockwaves through the industry. Here's a look at the company's collapse so far:
Customers fled the exchange over fears about whether FTX had sufficient capital, and it agreed to sell itself to rival crypto exchange Binance. But the deal fell through while Binance's due diligence on FTX's balance sheet was still pending.
FTX had valued its assets between USD 10 billion to USD 50 billion, and listed more than 130 affiliated companies around the world, according to its bankruptcy filing.
FTX and dozens of affiliated companies — including founder Sam Bankman-Fried's hedge fund, Alameda Research — filed the bankruptcy petition in Delaware on Friday.
The week's developments marked a shocking turn of events for Bankman-Fried, who was hailed as somewhat of a saviour earlier this year when he helped shore up a number of cryptocurrency companies that ran into financial trouble.
He was recently estimated to be worth USD 23 billion and has been a prominent political donor to Democrats.
FTX confirmed on Saturday there had been unauthorised access to its accounts, hours after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
A debate formed on social media about whether the exchange was hacked or a company insider had stolen funds — a possibility that
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