• The crypto community at the WEF meeting in Davos, Switzerland, has sought to disassociate itself from FTX’s abrupt demise and its co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, currently charged with federal crimes in the United States.
• U.S. federal prosecutors filed eight criminal counts against Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, including wire and securities fraud.
• Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse explained Ripple’s exposure to the defunct crypto exchange and said that the firm anticipates recovering the leased funds from American bankruptcy proceedings.
The crypto community at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual conference in Davos, Switzerland, has sought to disassociate itself from FTX’s abrupt demise and its co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, currently charged with federal crimes in the United States. U.S. federal prosecutors have filed eight criminal counts against Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, including wire and securities fraud. He has entered a not-guilty plea after being extradited from the Bahamas to the United States.
Gary Wang, a co-founder of FTX, and Caroline Ellison, a former CEO of Alameda Research, have both pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges and consented to assist American prosecutors. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has explained Ripple’s exposure to the defunct crypto exchange, noting that Ripple had leased FTX $10 million in XRP and used it on various things related to FTX. Garlinghouse also stated that Ripple anticipates recovering those funds from American bankruptcy proceedings, adding that the firm’s exposure to FTX, which accounted for 1% of “liquid assets,” wasn’t “significant.”
The crypto community at WEF has pointed out that FTX is now portrayed as a crypto issue, but when all layers of the onion are peeled back, the issue is fraud rather than crypto. They have also noted that the issue shouldn’t be treated as something different than it is.
The crypto community has also condemned the actions of FTX and SBF, and have sought to distance themselves from any association with the defunct crypto exchange. This condemnation is not just limited to the members of the crypto community at the WEF, but extends to the entire crypto community around the world. The actions of FTX and SBF have caused significant damage to the reputation of the entire industry, and it is important that the crypto world takes a unified stance against these types of activities in order to ensure the long-term success of the industry.