The FTX affair is at the heart of discussions in the crypto world. And every day, new details emerge, raising the tension a notch. Caroline Ellison, ex-CEO of Alameda Research, recently brought to light huge losses that Sam Bankman would have tried to hide in 2021.
Caroline Ellison makes revelations about FTX’s hidden losses
On his first day of testimony, Caroline Ellison had already unveiled a number of financial malpractices affecting Alameda, the manipulation of FTT prices, and the political ambitions of Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF).
Sound second day on the stand was just as explosive, revealing shocking new information. This time, she brought to light a multi-million dollar loss, which FTX would have received from trading the BTMX token. A loss that, according to her, SBF intentionally concealed.
Furthermore, Caroline Ellison has lifted the veil on how, under the governance of SBF, FTX hid a gigantic loss of $800 million in 2021 due to a malfunction in their margin system. She states that this loss was falsely attributed to Alameda in an apparent effort to make it up from investors.
Beyond the $800 million loss, she referred to other notable losses and clandestine financial operations. One of the most damning assertions by Ellison involves the transfer of substantial amounts of money to crypto addresses associated with Chinese officials. She claims that SBF would have moved between 100 and 150 million dollars to these addresses, shedding a disturbing light on the company’s relations with China.
This statement by Ellison corroborates the story that Sam would have tried to to negotiate with the Chinese authorities to recover his company’s assets investment company, Alameda Research which had been frozen by the Chinese government.
With the revelation of such startling details at this first Bankman-Fried trial, which involves seven fraud charges, anticipation is building as to what the next trial scheduled for March 2024 might reveal. This one is expected to deal with other charges, including bank fraud and a transnational bribery conspiracy, potentially offering even more disturbing insights into the case.
As a journalist at Coinpri, I’ve been captivated by the world of bitcoin and blockchain since 2020. The decentralized aspect of Bitcoin particularly piqued my interest. Since then, I’ve been working constantly to spread my knowledge, hoping one day to see a world where everyone fully enjoys their financial freedom.
