## Alameda Research Explained 

During the trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, the role of company Alameda Research in the dramatic collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange was regularly referred to. In the wake of the FTX debacle, many reports pointed to the contribution of Alameda to the platform's spectacular fall from grace. But what is Alameda Research? 

## Alameda Research trading firm 

Alameda Research was a DeFi (decentralised finance) investment firm established by SBF in October 2017. Headquartered in Hong Kong, the private equity firm, described by some as a quantitative cryptocurrency trading firm, made hundreds of investments. 

Described as a crypto hedge fund, Alameda made profits in crypto arbitrage by trading Bitcoin between Japan and the US. In 2019, it is reported, some of this income was used to get the FTX crypto exchange off the ground. 

As the digital asset industry suffered the crypto winter of 2022, Alameda was still investing heavily in DeFi projects, reportedly extending credit in excess of $800 million to firms like Voyager and [BlockFi](https://app.blockfi.com/signin?iss=https%3A%2F%2Fauth.blockfi.com%2F). 

Alameda collapsed after a balance sheet was leaked that claimed the business relied heavily on FTT, the token issued by FTX. 

The fall of Almeda sparked the [bankruptcy of BlockFi](/news/article/blockfi-bankrupt-court-documents), the crypto lender, amid claims it was owed $671 million by Alameda Research. BlockFi was also exposed to more than $350 million in funds frozen on the FTX exchange. 

While FTX and Alameda appeared to be distinct entities, it was reported in December 2022 that Alameda had handed over some $1 billion to assist the exchange after a company incident on the trading platform. 

## Trading activity 

Alameda was engaged in OTC (over-the-counter) cryptocurrency trading and also offered ‘full-service’ crypto trading on every exchange and market. 

It was reported that in 2022, head of its collapse, Alameda was managing more than $1 billion in digital assets and trading up to $10 billion every day in coins, tokens, and derivatives. 

It was believed to be holding some 40 cryptocurrencies, including major names like Solana, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Meta, DODO, and Swipe. But it was its exposure to FTT, the token of FTX, that proved critical. 

## End of an empire 

Media investigations into the relationship between the two companies, by [CoinDesk](https://www.coindesk.com/), among others, revealed that 40% of Alameda’s assets were FTT. 

These reports of Alameda’s reliance on FTT spooked investors, who fled the FTX exchange and dumped FTT. Unable to keep up with withdrawal requests, [FTX went into freefall](/news/article/ftx-bankrupt-who-to-blame). 

There had been hopes that Binance, the largest crypto exchange, would step in to provide liquidity for its nearest competitor and complete a buyout. But Binance stepped away from the idea. 

The business tweeted in November 2022 that it was abandoning the takeover plans following corporate due diligence and reports of customer funds being ‘mishandled’. 

With customers flooding out and the potential buyout off, both FTX and Alameda filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and SBF stepped down. Initial court reports put the liabilities of Alameda and FTX at between $10 and $50 billion. 

## Fall from grace 

Alameda Research had become established as a significant DeFi investor. In just five years, it made more than 220 investments, according to reports. 

Many of these took the form of capital injections into DeFi solution firms. For example, Fordefi, the FinTech and software company, announced in November 2022 that Alameda was among the investors to contribute to the $18 million it had raised to create an institutional DeFi wallet. 

With Alameda being so deep in the DeFi industry, its collapse caused problems for many projects. 

Maps.me and Oxygen, both recipients of tens of millions of dollars from the firm, ended up with almost all of their token supply frozen on the collapsed FTX exchange. 

FTX didn’t hold equity in either firm, but did hold a substantial amount of MAPS and Oxy tokens and was custodian for more than 95% of the total supply. 

## Day in court 

During SBF’s criminal trial, resulting from the collapse of FTX, it was repeatedly alleged that FTX customer funds were used by Alameda. 

Accounting expert Professor Peter Eaton, giving evidence on the apparent disappearance of $9 billion of customer funds, was clear in his assessment. Eaton conducted a painstaking analysis of the FTX and Alameda books and found substantial deficits. 

Alameda was supposed to be holding around $11.3 billion in FTX customer funds, but little more than $2 billion of that was being held in company bank accounts. Eaton testified that almost 70% of the loans Alameda was making were funded with FTX customer funds. 

Alameda research logo on image of research laptop

Alameda Research: Explained

The Bahamas, a tropical paradise known for its stunning beaches, became the backdrop of a gripping financial saga in which Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) and [FTX](https://ftx.com/), the cryptocurrency [exchange](/news/article/coinswitch-exchange) he founded, were involved. 

From luxury property acquisitions to a dramatic collapse, culminating in his arrest, the story of SBF Bahamas unveils a tumultuous journey in the world of cryptocurrency. 

This article explores the SBF Bahamas adventure, including the property purchases, [the collapse](/news/article/ftx-exchange-under-investigation) of the exchange, and the subsequent arrest of its founder on criminal charges. 

## Who is SBF? 

Bankman-Fried was born in 1992 and grew up in California. He studied physics and mathematics at MIT (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology). After graduating, he held a position as a trader at Jane Street Capital, a company specializing in quantitative trading. 

Bankman-Fried established [FTX](/news/article/ftx-exchange-under-investigation) in 2017, and it quickly became one of the largest exchanges in the world. FTX offered a variety of features that appealed to traders, including high liquidity, low fees, and margin trading. 

Bankman-Fried's success with FTX made him a wealthy man. He was ranked as the youngest self-made billionaire in the world by Forbes magazine in 2021. He gained prominence as a major donor to the US Democratic Party and was renowned for his dedication to effective altruism, a philanthropic movement that advocates for the rational and efficient distribution of wealth to charitable causes. 

However, SBF's success came with a price. He was accused of using his position at FTX to manipulate the cryptocurrency market. He was also accused of using customer funds to prop up [Alameda Research](/news/article/ryan-salame-exposed-ftx-truth), a cryptocurrency trading firm he founded. 

## FTX's Bahamas property purchases 

Under the leadership of Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX embarked on a lavish real estate buying spree in the Bahamas. Property records revealed that the company, together with its senior executives and even SBF's parents, acquired numerous high-value properties totaling nearly $121 million. These acquisitions primarily consisted of luxurious beachfront homes and vacation properties, including seven opulent condominiums in the upscale resort community of Albany. 

The SBF Bahamas property purchases came to light amidst a series of troubling events. FTX, previously counted among the largest cryptocurrency exchanges globally, faced mounting financial woes, leading to a rush of customer withdrawals and subsequent bankruptcy filings. 

The collapse[ left countless creditors with significant losses](/news/article/ftx-creditors-include-google-apple-netflix), and the finger of blame pointed at SBF's alleged misuse of customer funds to prop up his trading business, Alameda Research. 

## SBF Bahamas arrest 

The founder of FTX was[ arrested in the Bahamas](/news/article/former-ftx-ceo-sbf-arrested) in December 2022 following a formal notification from the US. The allegations originated from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into FTX's trading activities. 

He was detained at his apartment complex in the Albany resort, where luxurious properties were at the center of FTX's Bahamas buying spree. 

Bankman-Fried was [brought to the US](/news/article/sbf-agrees-to-return-to-us-for-fraud-charges) through extradition. Afterward, the US District Court in Manhattan indicted him on eight counts, including money laundering and securities fraud. 

The SBF Bahamas adventure began when he moved there in 2021 after relocating the headquarters of FTX from Hong Kong. The Bahamas has a reputation as a crypto-friendly jurisdiction, and FTX was one of the first major cryptocurrency exchanges to establish a presence there. 

The arrest marked one of the most stunning falls from grace in recent corporate history as SBF's empire crumbled. The arrest shocked many, as Bankman-Fried was seen as one of the most successful and influential figures in the cryptocurrency industry. 

## What led to FTX's failure? 

On 11 November, 2022, FTX initiated [Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings](/news/article/ftx-bankrupt-who-to-blame) triggered by a significant increase in customer withdrawals at the beginning of that month. The then-CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, openly acknowledged that the company lacked adequate reserve assets to fulfill the overwhelming customer demand. 

## What lies ahead for Bankman-Fried? 

SBF's future entails a trial scheduled for 2 October, 2023. After a court hearing on 22 December, 2022, a federal judge ruled in favor of his release from custody upon agreeing to a record-breaking $250 million bond. 

He will reside in Palo Alto, California, with his parents, adhering to restrictions within the Northern California area and wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet. Bankman-Fried appeared in a federal court in New York in January 2023 and entered a plea of not guilty to all allegations. 

## Conclusion 

The rise and [fall of SBF](/news/article/ftx-boss-denied-bail-in-bahamas) tell a cautionary tale of unchecked ambition and financial turmoil in the world of cryptocurrency. This saga underscores the importance of robust regulations and responsible management in safeguarding investors and upholding the credibility of the crypto industry. 

Sam Bankman Fried (SBF) Standing in the bahamas

The SBF Bahamas adventure: The rise and fall of a crypto mogul 

Tom Brady, a beloved US National Football League (NFL) figure, has found himself entangled in a significant financial predicament. Recently, documents related to the [FTX bankruptcy case ](/news/article/ftx-bankrupt-who-to-blame)revealed that Brady had invested substantial funds in the now-collapsed crypto exchange. Unfortunately, these funds have now become nearly worthless following the bankruptcy filing. 

Various media outlets, including The Insider and Bloomberg, have reported that Tom Brady held approximately 1.1 million FTX shares. Additionally, reports indicate that Gisele Bündchen, Brady's former wife and a renowned supermodel, also had a significant investment, owning approximately 680,000 shares in the exchange. 

This article explores the journey of Tom Brady, once an ambassador for FTX, and how he lost a considerable number of shares in the exchange. We will also assess the potential for the recovery of these funds. 

## Tom Brady FTX affiliations 

Since 2021, former NFL player Brady has served as the ambassador for the now-insolvent crypto exchange FTX. His ex-wife, Gisele Bündchen, has also been associated with the company. Together, they have participated in various [advertising campaigns promoting FTX services,](https://web.archive.org/web/20230111152240/https:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aCGMyrFn-8&t=55s) which have faced significant criticism from the crypto community. 

![FTX Tweet screenshot from 2021. Shows Tom Brady and his wife and announces they are to be FTX ambassadors. ](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/prod-monitalks-media/Screenshot_2023_07_17_at_09_34_48_5f7d387508.png)

Investors hold the couple responsible for intentionally encouraging people to invest in the crypto firm, leading to a lawsuit, as reported by [Business Insider](https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/tom-brady-shaquille-o-neal-golden-state-warriors-ftx-lawsuit-2023-5). The lawsuit was filed in November 2022 and included several other prominent figures from the sports and entertainment industries. 

On May 11, 2023, an amended complaint was filed in the Florida District Court. Reports suggest that Dan Friedberg, the former chief compliance officer of FTX exchange, is cooperating with the lawyers and providing valuable information regarding the FTX promotional campaigns. Friedberg's involvement indicates that a substantial portion of the campaigning occurred in Florida. 

Initially, some defendants claimed that the promotional activities were unrelated to Florida. However, with Friedberg's statement, the class action lawyers now have evidence to challenge the defendants' claims. Currently, the legal proceedings for the case are underway in the Florida District Court. 

## Can Tom Brady FTX shares be recovered? 

Brady and his former wife, Bündchen, possessed a combined total of approximately two million devalued shares. Before the [collapse of FTX](/news/article/ftx-collapse-blockfi-suspend-withdrawals), these shares held a considerable value in the millions. Forbes estimated Brady's claims to be [worth around $45 million](https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2022/11/10/exclusive-these-investors-stand-to-lose-the-most-from-ftxs-implosion/?sh=39ec68862670) and Bündchen's shares to be approximately $25 million. However, as [Sam Bankman-Fried](/news/article/former-ftx-ceo-sbf-arrested)'s firm faced mounting losses, the value of these shares plummeted. 

Currently, the chances of stakeholders fully recovering their funds are improbable. The downfall of FTX resulted in a loss of approximately $32 billion, with only [$7.3 billion](https://www.reuters.com/technology/bankrupt-crypto-exchange-ftx-has-recovered-73-bln-assets-attorney-2023-04-12/) having been recovered thus far. Given this significant disparity, it is unrealistic to expect all stakeholders to be able to [retrieve their assets](/news/article/ftx-news-assets-recovered). 

## Other celebrities who lost funds in the FTX collapse 

Brady and Bündchen are not the only high-profile individuals involved with [Sam Bankman-Fried's bankrupt exchange](/news/article/sam-bankman-fried-lost-billions). A roster of celebrities from the sports and entertainment worlds became investors in the company prior to its insolvency. Notably, Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, held approximately 630,000 common shares in the firm. 

The sports industry features other notable names, including Golden State Warrior's basketball player Stephen Curry, former NBA player Shaquille O'Neal, baseball player David Ortiz, and tennis player Naomi Osaka. 

In addition to sports personalities, the list of celebrities affected by FTX's collapse includes renowned comedian Larry David, entrepreneur Kevin O'Leary, and numerous others. 

## Final words 

Tom Brady, a legendary NFL player with seven Super Bowl championships under his belt, made headlines when he joined the FTX crypto exchange as an ambassador in 2021. Alongside his then-wife, Gisele Bündchen, Brady actively promoted the exchange's services. 

Not only did he lend his influence, but he also made significant investments in the form of 1.1 million common shares, valued at a staggering $45 million. 

Unfortunately, as the exchange encountered insolvency, the value of these shares plummeted, putting Brady's substantial investment at risk of significant loss. Brady is now facing a lawsuit about his promotion of FTX services, further complicating his involvement with the exchange. 

red image of Tom Brady from the NFL looking confused with FTX app on a phone

Tom Brady FTX ambassador may lose 1.1m shares

The new management of FTX is taking steps to [recover political donations](https://decrypt.co/120637/ftx-demands-return-political-donations) made by its former executives, including Sam Bankman-Fried, as part of the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings and plans to recover funds to repay the crypto exchange's creditors. 

## FTX funds donations to political parties

Bankman-Fried had been open about his political donations even before the exchange [collapsed](/news/article/is-crypto-dead). He was the second-largest CEO contributor to Joe Biden's 2020 campaign with a donation of $5.2 million. He also admitted to being a significant donor to Democratic and Republican candidates during the November midterm elections. 

The FTX funds donations to political parties are under [investigation](/news/article/ftx-exchange-under-investigation) by US prosecutors, with court documents filed in January indicating a review of donations totalling $93 million between March 2020 and November 2022.

## FTX plans to take back its political donations

FTX is taking action to retrieve millions of dollars from political contributions. John John Jay Ray III, the newly appointed company's CEO, has issued a formal demand for the return of "contributions or other payments" by 28 February.

The new management has outlined a pathway for politicians and political groups to voluntarily return the funds, with unreturned donations then required to be repaid with interest. 

Additionally, the company emphasized that it will still seek to recover funds donated to third parties like charities. The company clarified that recipients of such contributions are not exempt from its demand for return.

According to recent data from Unusual Whales, 196 members of Congress received campaign contributions from FTX's former executives, including [Ryan Salame](/news/article/ryan-salame-exposed-ftx-truth), Sam Bankman-Fried, Nishad Singh, and others.

In addition to recovering political donations, FTX's new team is also taking steps to repay its creditors, including plans to sell $4.6 billion in non-strategic investments, such as subsidiaries LedgerX, FTX Japan, Embed, and FTX Europe. 

A task force has also been formed by the Southern District of New York US Attorney's Office to investigate the exchange's collapse, including recovering missing customer funds and handling prosecutions relating to the FTX crash.


red image of ftx logo and dollars falling

FTX Funds: Political Donations to be Recovered

The lawyers for the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX filed a creditor matrix in the [Bankruptcy Court](https://www.deb.uscourts.gov/) of the US in Delaware District on 25 January. It is a detailed document that reveals all FTX creditors, including giants like Netflix, Amazon, Apple, and Coinbase.

The court document suggests that the fall of the [FTX crypto exchange](https://ftx.com/) has affected firms from various domains. Besides crypto firms, the collapse has troubled several banks, hotels, airlines, media agencies, charity organisations, and others. In addition, a few government entities are among its creditors.

## Big names from the list of FTX creditors

The creditor matrix is a 115-page document that provides names and mailing addresses of creditors in alphabetical order.

It illustrates the extent of damage caused by the fall of FTX.

As per the document, the bankruptcy of crypto exchanges left a deep impact on the tech industry. The SBF firm is indebted to the tech giants like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Twitter, Google, Netflix, LinkedIn, and many others. 

In addition, media outlets, including big players like the New York Times, figure among its creditors.

In the Web3 sphere, the firm owes to companies like Coinbase, Yuga Labs, Galaxy Digital, Bittrex, Circle, Binance, and Chainalysis.

## FTX bankruptcy case

Not long ago, the FTX exchange was one of the largest in the industry. However, in November 2022, the firm experienced a liquidity crunch as its FTT token crashed.

This prompted the firm to file for insolvency, and its founder [SBF was arrested](/news/article/former-ftx-ceo-sbf-arrested) for financial laws violation. 

Earlier, the firm's lawyers mentioned that it owes money to more than a million creditors. The rough estimates suggest that the firm owes more than $100 million to each of its top ten creditors. However, the recent creditor matrix did not provide the estimated amounts of each creditor.


red image of blockchain with FTX, coinbase, apple and netflix logos shown

FTX Creditors Include Google, Apple, Netflix

On 17 January, cryptocurrency exchange [FTX](/news/article/curve-finance-leverage-ftx-crash) revealed in a report to creditors that a significant amount of funds, estimated at $415 million, were stolen in a series of hacks. 

The company stated that despite efforts to recover lost assets, significant shortfalls remain at the FTX US and international exchanges.

FTX told the bankruptcy judge in Delaware last week that it has managed to [recover more than $5B](/news/article/ftx-news-assets-recovered) in various assets, including crypto, cash, and liquid securities. However, the exchange attributes a portion of the remaining shortfall to the hacks, reporting that $323M in crypto was stolen from the international exchange and $90M from the US exchange since filing for bankruptcy on 11 November.

The company's founder Sam Bankman-Fried has since challenged aspects of the report in a [blog post](https://sambf.substack.com/p/ftx-us-balance-update-2023-01-17) that provides information on the assets that FTX US holds. He has been [accused](/news/article/ryan-salame-exposed-ftx-truth) of using customer funds to cover the debts incurred of his crypto-focused hedge fund, Alameda Research.

Bankman-Fried contested FTX's recent financial report. He claimed that an "extremely misleading" impression of the company's finances had been presented by FTX lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell. An S&C spokesperson declined to comment on the statement. According to SBF's "best guess," the company still has enough funds to repay US customers, whom he estimates are owed between $181M and $497M.

Attorneys at the firm stated in a recent court filing that they had rejected efforts by SBF to remain involved in the company's bankruptcy proceedings. Also, he has been denied access to the company’s records since stepping down as CEO in November.

## FTX's recovery report

The company neither provided an estimate of the amount owed to FTX US or international customers nor responded to SBF's blog post.

In a recent FTX update on its recovery efforts following the $415M hack, the company reported that it had recovered $1.7B in cash, $3.5B in liquid cryptocurrency, and $300M in liquid securities.

The crypto assets recovered to date include $685 million in Solana, $529 million in FTX's proprietary FTT token, and $268 million in Bitcoin, based on the crypto prices on 11 November, 2022.


Red image of hacker hacking. Dollars falling from sky and Sam Bankman-Fried smiling in foreground

FTX US Reports $415 million Hacked

Curve Finance's decentralised exchange Curve may be just two years old, but it has made some giant strides at a time the crypto industry is in a state of "quo vadis".

The collapse of FTX, the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange at the time, has massively shaken traders' trust in centralised exchanges. A recent report by the Financial Times indicates that traders pulled out a record 91,363 BTC worth $1.5 billion from several notable centralised exchanges in November 2022. According to data from CoinCompare, this is the largest outflow of Bitcoin from exchanges on record.

Every day, new stories come out to add new dimensions to what continues to be an unfolding saga. The saying "not your keys, not your tokens" has come to haunt many who had funds in the bankrupt exchange. The collapse of FTX and several other centralised crypto exchanges have inadvertently opened the door to new opportunities for decentralised exchanges such as Curve Finance. But what does this all mean for you as a crypto investor and for Curve and other decentralised exchanges?

## Curve Finance: A pathway to the new crypto future

Before the FTX saga, there were already problems in the centralised exchange ecosystem. Some of these issues date back to 2014 when the first high-profile crypto exchange hack occurred. Since then, several other hacks of notable crypto exchanges have happened. Others went bust and took down investors' funds with them. Even as customers of Mt.Gox are now getting back their holdings after an eight-year process, many other investors have yet to be as lucky. Clients of collapsed exchanges WEX and QuadrigaCX still don't know what happened to their funds.

The setup of centralised crypto exchanges requires users to leave their cryptos on these exchanges to be able to buy, sell or transact with them. This exposes such tokens to being stolen, hacked, or disappearing outright.

Even more unnerving are details that have emerged from the FTX collapse. One of these is that the unregulated operation was basically being run from a penthouse in the Bahamas by a 10-man team of acquaintances of Sam Bankman-Fried, some of whom were romantically involved. There has yet to emerge any information on these individuals to suggest that they meet the [strict competency requirements](/news/article/sec-crypto-enforcement-warning) that operators in the forex, commodity, and equity markets are guided by to control such a large multi-billion dollar operation.

These problems spurred the next generation of crypto exchanges which captured the decentralisation essence of the blockchain. By keeping their crypto holdings in an external wallet that only required connection to the DEX for a transaction, users could at least be sure they are in control of their funds, sparing them from some of these unfortunate events. This was the environment that birthed the Curve DEX platform.

Curve is a decentralised exchange from the stable of Curve Finance. It features a governance token (CRV) and a crypto economy providing decentralised finance tools access. Curve Finance came on board in 2020, when global financial markets were in a pandemic-induced tailspin, and the crypto market underwent a renaissance after a three-year downturn.

How has Curve been able to ride the latest crypto storm, and should users consider this a safer alternative to centralised crypto exchanges?

## What has been Curve Finance's story since the FTX contagion?

The data on the performance of Curve and other decentralised exchanges shows that the trust of crypto market participants has mainly remained unblemished in the period following the FTX saga. There is every reason to be hopeful about the performance of the CRV token in the months and years ahead.

A 17 November, 2022, report by [Delphi Digital on its Twitter page](https://twitter.com/Delphi_Digital/status/1593031160845799425?s=20&t=SoTm6wx29aKmvqj-r0QUxA) indicated that DEX tokens massively outperformed tokens of centralised exchanges. CEX tokens lost 2.5% in the week under review, while DEX tokens, such as CRV, gained 26%. Crypto research portal Messari indicated that Uniswap and Curve Finance were the two decentralised exchanges expanding their user base.

DappRadar currently ranks Uniswap as the top DEX with a total value locked (TVL) of $4 billion. However, the value of the Uniswap token UNI fell 36% in November following the FTX collapse. It was able to claw back some of these losses, gaining 25% as of the first week of December. In contrast, Messari found that not only did CRV gain 66% after dropping to an initial low of $0.4, but Curve's unique user base grew to an all-time high in November 2022, following an 11% increase over the May 2022 previous all-time high.

In essence, Curve Finance performance in terms of CRV's price appreciation and the number of new users has exceeded that of Uniswap in the period following the collapse of FTX. It is also noteworthy that in September 2022, the total value locked on Curve Finance briefly topped that of Uniswap.

The figures show much potential in investing in the CRV token over the long term and participating in various crypto investment activities on Curve's decentralised exchange.

## What activities are performed on Curve's DEX?

Currently, Curve provides two levels of service:

•	Quick Swap (the service for buying and selling crypto tokens)

•	Liquidity pool (the crypto lending portal).

Decentralised exchanges are, by nature, non-custodial. They do not maintain a centralised wallet to which investors must move funds before they can transact. 

Therefore, users must connect their wallets to use the platform. Compatible wallets include Trezor, Ledger, Metamask, Coinbase Wallet, Fortmatic, WalletConnect, Torus, and Portis. Base wallet currencies supported include Ethereum, Avalanche, Gnosis, Kava, Celo, Fantom, Polygon, and MoonBeam. Once connected, you can swap CRV, DAI, USDT, USDC, LUSD, ETH, and wBTC for each other and an extensive list of other non-descript tokens.

Curve also features liquidity pools for crypto lending and borrowing and presents traders with the Quick Swap exchange portal, where non-custodial crypto tokens are swapped. Liquidity pools are maintained in various cryptos: Bitcoin, Ether, DAI, USDT, and the US Dollar are all featured currencies. 

## Conclusion

The data points are clear: investors are trooping to Curve. This shows that the future of crypto lies in decentralised exchanges. This segment of the crypto market is still nascent, with room for growth in 2023 and beyond.


image of curve finacne logo on blue background of trading stats

Curve Finance to Leverage FTX Crash? 

The [latest FTX news](/news/tag/ftx) could be positive for customers, investors, and lenders – $5B of assets, such as liquid cryptocurrency, liquid investment securities, and cash, have been recovered, according to Andy Dietderich, an FTX attorney.

Dietderich revealed this information to Judge John Dorsey in a Delaware bankruptcy court. The recovered assets do not include those confiscated by the Securities Commission of the Bahamas – where the crypto exchange is headquartered and former FTX boss Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was located at the time of his arrest.

## FTX news: who has been named in court filings?

Celebrities such as American football legend Tom Brady, Brazilian fashion model Giselle Bündchen (Brady's former wife), and CEO of the Kraft Group, Robert Kraft, were among those named in the hearings.

Most of FTX's investors and customers facing unfortunate losses have not been mentioned in court filings. At the time of writing, an estimated $8B of customer funds is missing (factoring in the latest recovered funds).

## FTX news: a timeline of events

Here is a timeline of events involving the cryptocurrency exchange and SBF:

•	On 11 November, 2022, FTX, valued at $32B just a year ago, [filed for bankruptcy](/news/article/ftx-bankrupt-who-to-blame).

•	On 12 December, 2022, [SBF was arrested](/news/article/former-ftx-ceo-sbf-arrested) in the Bahamas and extradited to the US.

•	On 13 December, 2022, US federal prosecutors announced eight criminal charges against SBF, including campaign finance violations, money laundering, and wire fraud. This includes allegations of using customer funds to settle debts at his crypto trading firm, Alameda Research, and indulging in other investments.

•	Co-founder of FTX Gary Wang and former head of Alameda Research Caroline Ellison (SBF's rumoured ex-girlfriend) have also been charged [over their purported role](/news/article/sam-bankman-fried-crypto-execs-admit-fraud) in FTX’s calamitous downfall.

•	On 22 December, 2022, SBF was released on a $250M bail bond – one of the largest in US history.

•	SBF, who was [once worth $26B](https://news.yahoo.com/sbf-once-worth-26-billion-092740219.html), pleaded ‘not guilty’ to each criminal charge against him.

In an interview with BBC news before his arrest, Sam Bankman-Fried claimed he had "unknowingly" committed fraud. He did not want the events that unfolded to happen and admitted to being "not nearly as competent" as he thought.


ftx logo on red background with billions of dollars falling from the sky

FTX News: $5B of Assets Recovered

Millions are searching for the answer to the question, 'is crypto dead?'. This key phrase brings forth millions of results in articles covered by reputable financial news outlets across the globe because of the liquidity issues that have mired the crypto finance industry in November 2022.

The second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, [FTX](/news/article/ftx-bankrupt-who-to-blame), which recorded at least $1 billion in daily volume and trailed only Binance in exchange rankings, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US on 11 November. Filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy means that FTX has many creditors who have poured liquidity into the company, but it has taken this step so that it can propose a reorganization plan to keep the business alive and pay creditors over a given period. The Sam Bankman-Fried-led company has seen the freezing of its assets by the Bahamas government, while provisional liquidators chosen by the country's securities have agreed to continue the [bankruptcy proceedings](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/22/ftx-lawyer-says-in-first-bankruptcy-hearing-this-is-different-animal.html) in Delaware, US.

Following the collapse of FTX and its bankruptcy filing on 11 November, the total market capitalization of the entire crypto industry plunged by more than $100 billion in 10 days. There was a 13% decrease from 11 November's $840 billion to approximately $728 billion on 21 November. Due to interest in tokens such as Trust Wallet Token (TWT) - which has risen by more than 100% in the last two months due to increased demand for crypto wallets as a result of its self-custody purposes - the markets have made some gains.

It recouped more than $50 billion in the three days towards the close of 24 November, which saw capitalization climb up to $791 billion, data from [Trading View](https://www.tradingview.com/x/4jMz1P1X/) showed. 

![Picture2.png](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/prod-monitalks-media/Picture2_36e7999c8f.png)
 
Despite the billions of dollars of liquidity that poured into the market from 21 November to 24 November, the industry had not accounted for the remaining $50 billion that had left the market.

These metrics have become a major cause for concern for many stakeholders in the industry, prompting the question, 'is crypto dead?'. But the roots of FTX's demise were sown 12 months ago.

## Terra Luna's collapse

The seeds for the contemplation of the question 'is crypto dead?' were sown in 2021. This was a period where sophisticated (traders and investors who conduct fundamental and technical analysis before making decisions) and unsophisticated (those who do NOT) saw multiple percentage gains within a short time. 

Cryptocurrencies such as SAFEMOON and meme-inspired digital currencies such as Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE) brought more than 10,000% gains to their holders. Low-cap digital assets by market capitalization (coins with less than $2 billion in value) were not the only assets to see gains. Medium (digital assets with more than $2 billion but less than $10 billion in market cap) and large (coins and tokens with more than $10 billion in market value) such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH),

Cardano (ADA), Ripple (XRP), Solana (SOL), Polkadot (DOT), Litecoin (LTC), and Dash (DASH) also brought triple-digital percentage gains to investors.

After the industry reached a peak of $3 trillion in November 2021, the fear of missing out (FOMO) set in. With reports of millions of dollars being made within a short time circulating on pro-crypto news forums and websites across the globe, millions more joined to milk the cow. Unfortunately, whatever goes up also comes down. During the pandemic's peak in March and April, the financial markets were brought to their knees, with BTC trading below $4,000. What followed was a bullish market that saw decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens such as Compound (COMP), Aave (AAVE),

Uniswap (UNI), and Yearn Finance (YFI) lead a turnaround towards the end of 2020. It was that turnaround that led to the record highs achieved by the crypto market in 2021.

At the beginning of 2022, there was the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and this led to a rise in commodity prices. Industry-wide reports of inflation began circulating online in February and March. This was a time when the roots of bearishness which commenced after the highs in November started showing their branches.

What followed was the increase of interest rates by the Federal Reserve in the US. Millions of people jumped onto the crypto bandwagon, and DeFi especially, because of the above-average returns it promised. Since the US is the financial capital of the world, a rise in interest rates in the country led to a significant spike in interest rates in many developing countries whose citizens rely on crypto for passive income. Many of these residents and some crypto holders in developed economies began dumping the highly volatile asset class for safe and risk-free government bills and bonds that can add three, six, nine, and 12 months of passive income to their regular salaries.

In the middle of May, the shaky market saw the collapse of one of its new major assets in the form of [TerraUSD (UST)](/news/article/terra-luna-collapse), an algorithmic stablecoin that supported the Terra project. As one of the major projects in the industry with more than $30 billion in total value locked (TVL), the collapse of the token wiped more than $40 billion off the market within two weeks. 

As of 24 November, around $2.2 trillion had been wiped off the market since November 2021's highs. Holders of BTC, ETH, ADA, the old Terra (LUNA), and now FTX Token (FTT) have taken the biggest hit. The industry-wide bloodbath was captured by [TradingView](https://www.tradingview.com/x/bcnxPIIH/).

![Picture3.png](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/prod-monitalks-media/Picture3_fe5af36b85.png)

## So, is Crypto Dead in 2022?

To outsiders of this broad industry, crypto is on its knees in 2022. Unfortunately for the same outsiders, crypto is more than some virtual assets on screen being traded by millions of people daily. Its underlying infrastructure, blockchain technology, has been tapped by many financial institutions to improve their systems.

A cryptocurrency like Ripple's XRP is used in the company's on-demand liquidity (ODL) feature during cross-border payments. This has helped millions of remittance companies that have partnered with Ripple meet their customers' demands.

One of the emerging sectors of the crypto industry is non-fungible tokens (NFTs). As of 24 November, NFT global market sales had surpassed $40 billion with projects such as [Axie Infinity](/news/article/axie-infinity-coin), Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), CryptoPunks, and NBA Top Shots among highest selling collections. Blockchains such as Ethereum, Avalanche, Binance, and Solana continue to play an integral part in NFT creation and sales. 

Aside from that, sports clubs have also tapped into the industry to improve fan engagement. Global Fan Tokens have surpassed more than $100 billion, with football clubs such as Paris Saint Germain, Lazio, AC Milan, AS Roma, and FC Barcelona among the top teams whose tokens lead the ranks of the most purchased.

Is crypto dead? In a nutshell, no. The market is going through a phase where shady projects are being thrown out, while others are being restructured to protect investors from losing billions of dollars of their hard-earned money.



Is Crypto Dead After FTX Collapse?

Sam Bankman-Fried, the detained founder of the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, reportedly signed documents on 20 December that will see SBF handed over to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents and taken to the United States, where he will face criminal charges.

Bankman-Fried was [reported](https://cointelegraph.com/news/sbf-signs-extradition-papers-set-to-return-to-face-charges-in-the-us) to have agreed to be [extradited](/news/article/former-ftx-ceo-sbf-arrested) to the US just hours after his lawyer told a judge in the Bahamas that he was not ready to consent.

## SBF is to be taken to the US to face criminal charges

According to Bahamas Acting Commissioner of Corrections Doan Cleare, Bankman-Fried signed his surrender documents on Tuesday. Today, SBF will sign separate papers finalising his waiver of rights to fight extradition at the Magistrate's Court in Nassau.
[Bankman-Fried](/news/article/sam-bankman-fried-lost-billions) is expected to be accompanied by FBI agents on a private flight back to the US, where he faces eight counts in an accusation by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. 

According to the [New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/20/technology/sam-bankman-fried-bail.html), Bankman-Fried's legal team is negotiating with federal prosecutors to allow him to be released on bail if he is extradited to the US.

According to sources, the agreement, which requires the approval of the federal judge overseeing the SBF case, could include highly restrictive conditions such as home custody and electronic monitoring.

## Allegations on SBF 

The Department of Justice has accused SBF of campaign finance violations, commodities and securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire and money laundering, and wire fraud.

If found guilty of all charges, he could face up to 115 years in prison.

[The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) have filed additional charges](/news/article/ftx-boss-denied-bail-in-bahamas) against the founder of FTX for allegedly breaking commodity laws and defrauding investors.

After three years of rapid growth, FTX and numerous related companies filed for bankruptcy last month. The exchange was worth US$32 billion at its peak.

Authorities in the Bahamas and the US continue to investigate the involvement of SBF in FTX's collapse last month. The exchange was headquartered in the Bahamas.



SBF Agrees to Return to US to Face Fraud Charges

According to recent reports, authorities were alerted of the FTX's fraud before it made headlines. [Co-CEO Ryan Salame alerted Bahamian authorities](https://cointelegraph.com/news/ftx-bahamas-co-ceo-ryan-salame-blew-the-whistle-on-ftx-and-sam-bankman-fried) a few days before FTX filed for [bankruptcy](/news/article/ftx-bankrupt-who-to-blame) in November.

He alleged that founder Sam Bankman-Fried might have defrauded investors by [transferring money](https://cointelegraph.com/news/alameda-had-unfair-trading-advantage-special-access-to-ftx-funds-cftc-filing) to his sister company, Alameda Research.

## Ryan Salame takes on FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried

Contrary to the vast majority of market rumours, one of the company's top executives, not Changpeng Zhao (CZ) of Binance, was the one who brought down SBF and FTX. The declaration made on Wednesday is the first time an insider's turn against Bankman-Fried has been acknowledged publicly.

According to Bahamian court documents filed on 14 December, Ryan Salame, the former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets (FDM), informed the SCB (Securities Commission of the Bahamas) on 9 November that the company was sending client funds to its sister trading company Alameda Research.

Salame claimed that the transfer was neither authorised nor approved by clients and that the money was intended to compensate for Alameda's financial losses. Furthermore, he disclosed to the SCB that only three people had the authority to transfer client assets to Alameda: the engineer Nishad Singh, the former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, and Zixiao “Gary” Wang, the other co-founder of the company.

Salame claimed that he informed Bankman-Fried and Alameda executives that it was against "normal corporate governance" for client funds to have been mixed with Alameda's.

Following that, Christina Rolle, executive director of the SCB, requested an [investigation](/news/article/ftx-exchange-under-investigation) from the commissioner of the Royal Bahamas Police Force because the information “may have held misappropriation, theft, fraud, or some other crime".

The following day, 10 November, the [SCB froze FDM's assets](https://cointelegraph.com/news/bahamas-securities-regulator-freezes-ftx-assets) and suspended its registration in the country. A provisional liquidator was appointed by the Bahamian Supreme Court to try to save the company's assets.
According to the filings, Salame is believed to be in Washington, DC, and has not spoken publicly since the exchange's downfall.

His most recent public tweet was on 7 November, when he responded "lol" to Binance co-founder Yi He after He explained why the exchange [sold its FTX Token FTT holdings](/news/article/ftx-vs-binance-liquidate-funds).

## The collapse of FTX has had an absurd impact on the industry

Mixing SBF's companies' funds was a significant issue in the FTX scandal. In recent weeks, another former executive from FTX's affiliated companies is thought to have been assisting authorities.

On 4 December, images purportedly showing Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison in a coffee shop near the US Attorney's Office fueled rumours. Following the company crash, the cryptocurrency community believes she may have made a deal with authorities. 

Bankman-Fried is, to date, the only person charged in connection with FTX and Alameda so far. He is [accused](/news/article/ftx-boss-denied-bail-in-bahamas) of money laundering, political campaign finance violations, and wire and securities fraud.

Bankman-Fried, Wang, Singh, and Ellison are said to have run a "wirefraud" group chat on Signal, the encrypted messaging app, to send sensitive information about FTX and Alameda's operations. Bankman-Fried denied any knowledge of or participation in the group.


red image of ftx logo on mobile phone. Ryan Salame sitting in foreground. 

Co-CEO Ryan Salame Exposes FTX Truth

A [judge in the Bahamas has refused bail for Sam Bankman-Fried](https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-63967010.amp), the founder and former boss of the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX. According to the most recent sources, he will be detained by Bahamian authorities following his [arrest](/news/article/former-ftx-ceo-sbf-arrested) on 12 December, 2022.

Joyann Ferguson-Pratt, the judge in the case, has scheduled an extradition hearing for 8 February, 2023. The hearing was arranged in response to the decision to deny the former FTX boss bail.

## Ex-FTX boss in court

During the hearing, the attorney for the former FTX boss asked the judge whether SBF might be released on a $250,000 bond. The lawyer argued that his release is required since he requires daily medication.

Prosecutors in the Bahamas resisted the proposal, claiming it violated a treaty with the United States. The attorneys also stated that defendants should be imprisoned while extradition procedures were underway under the treaty provisions.

Bankman-Fried notified the judge that he would not forgo his right to contest the extradition. He then hinted that he could desire to stay in the Bahamas on purpose.

Bankman-Friend, wearing a blue suit without a tie, dropped his head and hugged his parents when the judge ruled that his danger of flight was "very severe". The judge ordered him to be detained in the Bahamas until 8 February.

## Allegations on FTX boss

After the Royal Bahamas Police was informed of a secret indictment by US prosecutors, they arrested SBF on Monday. The arrest was sparked by an unsealed indictment which included eight charges against SBF. These included conspiracy and wire fraud, for allegedly abusing billions of dollars in client payments before his cryptocurrency empire's stunning collapse last month.

Furthermore, the [SEC](/news/article/sec-crypto-enforcement-warning), CFTC, and the US Department of Justice filed complaints against Bankman-Fried on Tuesday for suspected securities and commodities fraud. Bahamas government officials are conducting civil and criminal investigations against him and FTX.

The day's events concluded a remarkable fall from grace for SBF, who created a fortune worth more than $20 billion as he rode a cryptocurrency boom to grow FTX into one of the world's largest exchanges.


red image of bankman fried in front of image of man in handcuffs. 

Former FTX Boss Denied Bail in the Bahamas

The founder and disgraced CEO of the failed crypto exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, was arrested on Monday after the US Government filed a criminal indictment.

These charges follow weeks of speculation that the FTX CEO misused customer funds.

## FTX CEO arrested

Sam Bankman-Fried, popularly known as SBF, was arrested by the Royal Bahamas Police Force. The police said that the arrest was initiated following receipt of formal notification from the US Government that it filed criminal charges and is likely to request that SBF be extradited.

In a statement, the Bahamas Police confirmed that Bankman-Fried was taken into custody without a hitch at his Albany apartment complex at 6pm.

SBF's arrest resulted from financial offences alleged in the US which would also be offenses in the Bahamas, the statement said.

A sealed indictment filed by the Southern District of New York was the basis for the arrest. US Attorney Damian Williams confirmed this in a [tweet](https://twitter.com/SDNYnews/status/1602451395910803457). 

Last month, the exchange filed for bankruptcy in the US after it imploded [almost overnight](/news/article/sam-bankman-fried-lost-billions), leaving customers unable to access their funds. According to court filings, FTX owed its largest creditors around $3.1 billion.

The dramatic fall from grace has been the talk of the market. The exchange's CEO was expected to testify about the [company's collapse](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/09/technology/ftx-text-messages.html) in Congress on Tuesday.

## Bankman-Fried future looks clouded

According to the [New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/12/business/ftx-sam-bankman-fried-bahamas.html), the charges filed against Bankman-Fried include wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, securities fraud, security fraud conspiracy, and money laundering.

However, it's still unclear whether customers will be able to recover some, if not all, of their funds. A 2 November report on ties between FTX and Alameda, a trading company also controlled by the FTX CEO, exposed that Alameda's balance sheet was overexposed to FTT currency (FTX's token).

According to the extradition treaty between the US and the Bahamas, defendants may be returned to the US provided their offenses carry a minimum one-year sentence in both countries.

The 30-year-old has recently disregarded legal counsel and increased his public appearances, providing his version of his company's abrupt failure and typically portraying himself as an inept CEO.

"I didn't knowingly commit fraud," he said during a BBC at the weekend. SBF told the interviewer he didn't want any of this to happen and added that he was "not nearly as competent" as he believed himself to be.



red image of crime scene with pictures of Sam Bankman-Fried and a sign that says "bahamas"

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested

A [report](https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/ftx-hires-forensic-team-to-probe-money-trail-11670446435?mod=lead_feature_below_a_pos1) from the Wall Street Journal (7 December) claims that FTX has formed a team of financial experts to trace billions of dollars in “missing” customer funds from the company.

The new management at FTX is looking to get to the bottom of the entire crisis, and they’re not aiming for a slow process. The team has outsourced the matter to a group of financial forensic experts to find out how and where the funds could have gone missing.

To be specific, [AlixPartners](https://www.alixpartners.com/), a firm that specialises in financial matters, has been trusted with this mountain of a task. This advisory committee will be led by Matt Jacques, formerly with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a chief accountant.

FTX will try to recover as many of the missing assets as possible with the help of this newly formed committee. Furthermore, the crypto company will need further assistance to rebuild its financial infrastructure from the ground up.

## Summary of the FTX crash

If you're even the slightest bit involved in the crypto industry, you've probably heard the name FTX pop up a few times over the last couple of months - and not in a good light. The crypto company has been under fire for letting almost $450 million of customer funds disappear.

The whole debacle and the story of "[who’s to blame](/news/article/ftx-bankrupt-who-to-blame)" is a mystery, even after months of speculation.

It's not the first time the company's CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, has been alleged to have mismanaged customer funds. In an interview with [Vox](https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23462333/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-cryptocurrency-effective-altruism-crypto-bahamas-philanthropy), Bankman-Fried claimed to have passed customer funds through Alameda Research, FTX’s sister company. He did admit his lack of control over his company’s operations, as he [tweeted](https://twitter.com/sbf_ftx/status/1590709166515310593?s=46&t=Br1_HGNzUBwspKZ7pF6myA), "I'm sorry. I f--d up" after the fiasco broke.

The company filed for bankruptcy in November. It's difficult to see them making a comeback, largely due to two major factors:

•	The global negative PR that the company has been a victim of over the period of several months.

•	A low probability of recovering the lost funds.

FTX’s new management will need a miracle to even get crumbs from this entire mess.



red image of money with sam bankman-fried in the foreground

FTX Brings in Financial Experts

FTX’s [decline](/news/article/ftx-bankrupt-who-to-blame) has rattled the crypto market. Digital asset lending firms and exchanges are at the receiving end and falling like houses of cards. The [Gemini crypto exchange](https://www.gemini.com/) of the Winklevoss twins has also become one of the victims of FTX contagion. 

On 16 November, Gemini's Earn product experienced delays in withdrawals due to an outage. Curiously, the outage occurred just after its partner, [Genesis Global](https://genesis.global/), suspended withdrawals on its platform. Genesis took the step in the wake of the fall of the [Sam Bankman-Fried](/news/article/sam-bankman-fried-lost-billions) corporation.  

Earlier, the firm acknowledged its partner’s suspension of withdrawals in a [Twitter thread](https://twitter.com/Gemini/status/1592873279232278532). It also announced that its team is working with the crypto lender to ensure quick recovery of funds of the Earn program. 

It assured its clients that these events would not affect the activities on the [Gemini](/news/article/gemini-crypto-review) platform. However, a couple of hours later, it experienced an outage that shook investors' trust.

## Gemini crypto exchange outage caused $485m outflows

The server outage on the platform halted the operations affecting the withdrawals and deposits. However, it has only been down for about an hour. Per its official statement on Twitter, the disruption occurred at its primary databases due to the Amazon Web Services EBS.

The exchange's team swiftly recovered it and announced it was "fully back online".

![gemini exchange tweet](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/prod-monitalks-media/geminitweet_50471f672f.webp)
 
Moreover, it reassured its users about the safety of their funds. Nonetheless, the disruption created panic among the users, which resulted in mass outflows. 

According to [Nansen](https://www.nansen.ai/), the blockchain insights firm, more than $485 million has been withdrawn from the exchange in the past 24 hours. This is the highest outflow for any exchange in the same period. On the other hand, the inflows for the platform were only $78 million.  

## The unstoppable FTX contagion

Gemini and Genesis Global are just some digital asset service providers that suffered after the FTX collapse. Various other firms are moving towards insolvency. Crypto lenders [BlockFi](/news/article/ftx-collapse-blockfi-suspend-withdrawals) and SALT are recognised names among them. This collapse may affect many other significant firms in the future as investors' confidence seems to be shaken.


Gemini crypto exchange falls prey to FTX contagion

The entire crypto market is reeling from the [crash](/news/article/ftx-collapse-blockfi-suspend-withdrawals) of the FTX exchange. Amid this, the price of all the major cryptocurrencies, including [Bitcoin](/coins/btc), [Ethereum](/coins/eth), and others, have plunged. On the other hand, NFTs have also felt some impact from this crash. But one of the collections that suffered the most is the [Bored Ape Yacht Club](https://boredapeyachtclub.com/) (BAYC) NFT collection.

The data from several sources suggest that the price of NFTs for this project is continually decreasing. One of the primary reasons behind it is the tumbling value of Ether. This has forced the holders to panic sell their digital art collectables. 

## The plunging value of the BAYC NFT collection

The data from [NFT Price Floor](https://nftpricefloor.com/) indicates that the CryptoPunks collection has replaced Bored Ape collectables. The floor price of CryptoPunks is 66.49 ETH, whereas the value for the [Bored Ape Yacht](/news/article/bored-ape-nft) collection is only 52.00 ETH. 

Besides, the data aggregator for collectables, [CryptoSlam](https://cryptoslam.io/bored-ape-yacht-club/sales/summary), further shows that the sales of NFTs have decreased over the past month. Last month, the total traded volume was $31,275,729.82. However, in November, till now it was $26,838,932.67.

## Why is the price falling for the BAYC NFT project? 

It is one of the most popular projects in the digital art market. The falling costs of these NFTs are quite alarming for the collectors. Though there are numerous factors for the decline in its value, [FTX collapse](/news/article/ftx-bankrupt-who-to-blame) is a major one. 

According to Wu Blockchain, the creators of BAYC, Yuga Labs, had stored around 18,000 ETH on the FTX’s Blockfolio for royalties.

![bayc.png](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/prod-monitalks-media/bayc_7a1534ef34.png)
 
Because of this, its collectables have experienced a more than 10% decline in value. Moreover, the project lost its first position due to the drop in market capitalisation. The collectors are now inclined towards owning a [CryptoPunks](/news/article/jay-z-cryptopunks-nft) collectable instead of this project’s NFTs.


Why BAYC NFTs Suffered Most from the FTX Crash

After facing the digital equivalent of a bank run, the [imploding crypto trading](https://www.seattletimes.com/business/explainer-whats-happening-at-bankrupt-crypto-exchange-ftx/) business is now in the red by billions of dollars. FTX, one of the biggest exchanges in the world, filed for bankruptcy last week. Its CEO and founder also resigned. The trading firm afterward stated that there had been "unauthorised access" and that cash had vanished.  

According to analysts, hundreds of millions in cash may have gone. Elliptic, an analytics firm, estimated on Saturday that $477 million was missing from the transaction. On social media, there was a debate about whether the exchange was hacked or whether a business insider had taken assets, which cryptocurrency analysts couldn't rule out.

Its new CEO, John Ray III, announced that it would disable the ability to trade or withdraw cash and would take actions to safeguard consumers' assets.

## FTX Bankrupt: How did it happen?

Customers abandoned the exchange due to concerns over its funds and agreed a sale to rival crypto [exchange](/news/article/ftx-uk-warning) Binance. However, the transaction fell through while Binance conducted due diligence on [FTX's](/news/article/ftx-vs-binance-liquidate-funds) balance sheet.

According to its bankruptcy petition, the crypto business estimated its assets at between $10 billion and $50 billion and identified more than 130 associated firms worldwide.

On Friday, FTX and hundreds of linked entities, including founder Sam Bankman-Fried's hedgefund Alameda Research, filed for bankruptcy in Delaware.

## FTX Bankrupt: Bankman-Fried accepts blame

Sam Bankman-Fried apologised on [Twitter Thursday morning](https://twitter.com/sbf_ftx/status/1590709166515310593?s=46&amp;t=Br1_HGNzUBwspKZ7pF6myA), saying he "f—-ed up" and should have done better. Bankman-Fried also announced the closure of Alameda Research, the trading business he co-founded with FTX.

The tweet comes as the former crypto industry star pleads for billions of dollars to avoid bankruptcy. 

This week has been a rapid fall from grace for FTX. After valuing the exchange at $32 billion earlier this year, Bankman-Fried is now searching for someone to backstop the crypto business [after rival exchange Binance withdrew from a plan](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/09/binance-backs-out-of-ftx-rescue-leaving-the-crypto-exchange-on-the-brink-of-collapse.html) to purchase it.

He is worth an estimated $23 billion and has been a major political donor to Democrats.



FTX bankrupt: Who's to blame?

A leading crypto lending firm, [BlockFi](https://blockfi.com/), has enforced the suspension of withdrawals for its clients. The firm has taken the step after the sudden collapse of [FTX](/news/article/ftx-vs-binance-liquidate-funds) that affected the entire market. 

Regarding this issue, the firm has put out a statement on Twitter to give clarity to its customers. It has announced that "we aren't able to operate business as usual".

The cryptocurrency lender has cited a need for more clarity by FTX.com, FTX US, and Alameda on this issue. It has further notified that it has to pause withdrawals until these platforms provide more clarity. Moreover, it has requested its clients not to deposit funds in its interest accounts and wallets.

![Picture1.png](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/prod-monitalks-media/Picture1_938e08c10e.png)

## Earlier statement of BlockFi’s founder and COO

Paradoxically, this statement came just a few days after the COO and founder of BlockFi gave assurances about its operationality. On 8 November, Flori Marquez posted a long [thread](https://twitter.com/FounderFlori/status/1590030309076058112) to assure the clients that it was completely operational.

Marquez’s statement for the market downturn was that BlockFi could handle such situations. Moreover, he mentioned that the company runs independently and will remain the same till July 2023. 

Furthermore, he maintained that the company has access to 400 million USD through a line of credit from FTXUS. He also assured customers that the business was processing all client withdrawals in accordance with the Terms of Service.

However, today's announcement has refuted all these assurances. Clients cannot withdraw funds from their BlockFi wallets for an unknown period.  

## What happened to Sam Bankman-Fried’s exchange?

Sam Bankman-Fried has recently lost over [$14.6 billion](/news/article/sam-bankman-fried-lost-billions), which has removed him from Bloomberg’s list of billionaires. The reason for this is his company’s potential insolvency. Meanwhile, there’s also no lack of certainty whether Changpeng Zhao, [Binance’s](/news/article/guide-to-binance-uk) CEO, will assist the firm or not. 

Earlier, the FTT token also crashed, and Zhao announced to sell off all of its FTT holdings. Currently, both firms are in a clash, which could be one of the reasons the crypto market is tumbling.



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