Bahamas Regulator Orders FTX to Move Its Digital Assets to Government Wallet

The Securities Commission of the Bahamas, a statutory body responsible for regulating and overseeing investment funds, securities, and the capital markets in The Bahamas, has ordered crypto exchange FTX to transfer its digital assets to government-controlled wallets.

According to the press release shared on November 17th, the transaction was made with the aim “to protect the interests of clients and creditors of” FTX Digital Markets Ltd. (FDM).

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The Bahamas regulator revealed that an order to transfer digital assets was issued on November 12th, using its jurisdiction under the authority of a Supreme Court. The regulator highlighted that FTX’s digital assets were moved to “a digital wallet controlled by the Commission, for safekeeping.”

It can be assumed that the Securities Commission of the Bahamas order is connected to recent news about FTX being drained. On November 12th, crypto analytics firm Nansen noticed several unauthorized transactions leaving FTX. At that time, the crypto exchange was drained for $266.3 million, with $73 million moved from FTX US.

The crypto analysts believe that at the end of November 12th, FTX was drained of $663 million, with $477 million worth of crypto stolen and $186 million moved by FTX.

Therefore, it can be assumed that FTX moved $186 million worth of crypto to the wallet controlled by the Bahamas government. However, the assumptions cannot be confirmed because The Securities Commission of the Bahamas hasn't revealed how much FTX has transferred.

It is worth noting that on November 13th, the news broke that Bahamas law enforcement launched an investigation into the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX. Reuters reported that The Royal Bahamas Police confirmed the news claiming that the Bahamas is looking into whether or not “criminal misconduct occurred” while the crypto exchange was operating.

FTX is also reportedly investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).