SNEAK PEEK
- A late-Tuesday notice stated that FTX Australia’s license to offer Australian financial services had been suspended.
- The most recent domino in Sam Bankman-once-dominant Fried’s empire’s tragic collapse is the suspension of FTX Australia.
- Customers of FTX Australia are being advised by ASIC to monitor the situation carefully and keep an eye out for developments from the FTX Group.
Till May 15, 2023, FTX Australia’s license to provide Australian financial services has been suspended, according to an announcement made late on Tuesday by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC). The local FTX affiliate was previously placed under voluntary administration by the agency on November 11, 2022, the same day that FTX sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The suspension of FTX Australia is the most recent domino to fall in Sam Bankman-once-dominant Fried’s empire’s disastrous collapse.
The Chapter 11 filing included algorithmic trading firm Alameda Research, FTX.US, and 130 associated corporations but excluded FTX Australia. Ledger X LLC, FTX Digital Markets Ltd., and FTX Express Pay Ltd. were also excluded from the bankruptcy filing.
According to the organization, ASIC advises FTX Australia customers to keep a close eye on the issue and keep an eye out for updates from the FTX Group and FTX Australia’s administrators on the KordaMentha website. In March 2022, FTX opened FTX Australia in Sydney.
Following its Friday bankruptcy filing, FTX has kept going downhill. Investors have been alarmed even more after another well-known personality in the sector admitted to misusing money. Former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried praised The Bahamas at the time as “one of the few nations to set up a full framework for crypto” when FTX relocated its headquarters from Hong Kong to The Bahamas last year.
Authorities in The Bahamas announced on Sunday that they were looking into possible criminal activity related to the collapse of the corporation.
The acts of Bankman-Fried and other FTX officials are allegedly involved, and Australian authorities have sufficient reason to believe fraud was taking place. Regulations in Australia were lax, which made issues worse.
According to the Australian Financial Review, there are no custody requirements for digital asset exchanges in the island country, hence FTX Trading was not required to retain client assets locally.
