What is the Bahamian financial policeman playing? – In a bankruptcy case whose ramifications are sprawling and the financial stakes potentially colossal, the Caribbean regulatory authorities have just proceeded to a kind of wild boarding. The financial policeman of the small island nation has indeed just announced that not only the government would have recovered all the financial assets of the FTX platform. But what is more, the operation would have taken place several days ago, in a way that we guess is incredible.
A twist in the FTX bankruptcy case
Reported in particular by The Block in the night, the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (the local financial policeman) said in a press release that the government institution now had “all digital assets” of FTX under its control.
Yet another twist in this extraordinary case, which it is hard to believe began less than a week ago with the resounding collapse from the former number 2 in the crypto industry.
The commission further indicates that this control of FTX’s funds (no amount or details are specified) is actually Effective November 12. The receivership operation is said to have taken place under the control of the Supreme Court of the Bahamas, under the Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges Act of 2020.
The document finally underlines that the regulator will soon begin exchanges with its international counterparts “from multiple jurisdictions”, in order to provide assistance to the creditors, customers and shareholders of FDM (FTX Digital Market, the consortium including FTX and some of its subsidiaries and affiliates ).
A message that we could perceive overall as positive (a financial regulator is in possession of the despoiled users’ assets, which is always better than leaving them to the whim of a Sam Bankman-Fried More and more unstable). But an approach that could very well be a source of tension on the American side.
>> Want to add cryptos to your wallet? Sign up on Bitget (commercial link) <<
FTX: A bankruptcy that whets appetites
We notice in the press release of the SCB a quick, but at the very least unusual mention, which refers very directly to the news.
Indeed, the Caribbean regulator takes care to specify “that it does not recognize as it stands that FDM falls within the scope of the Chapter 11 protection of the US Bankruptcy Court”.
We explained to you recently what this particular American status is all about – Celsius also benefited in far too recent times – which notably allows a company in difficulty to continue its operations, under the control of the US judicial authority.
Except that, what the financial policeman of the Caribbean is saying in essence, is that if FTX must go bankrupt, it will be under its jurisdiction, and certainly not in American territory.
And to drive the nail of the provocation, the regulator of the small island with the soft taxation but with the iron fist, therefore underlines with this press release that, in any case, his government actually controls the funds of FTX for…more than 5 days. A shocking revelation and a slap in the face of the American authorities, therefore.
The Bahamas, in the middle of a double game?
As we can see, the stakes are such that they openly engage, but very probably especially behind the scenes power struggles the violence of which we probably cannot imagine.
Fake news is thus mixed with contradictory information on the basis of the communication war. It will be remembered in particular that the Caribbean was criticized for having exerted pressure so that FTX opens withdrawals as a priority… to its nationals.
If the island nation has since deniedensuring concern for victimized users as a whole, the mixture of genres leaves a bitter taste to the international community of injured users who feel excluded from major occult maneuvers that escape them.
Finally, in a more anecdotal way (and to clearly materialize the importance of temporality), we learned that the Royal Bahamas Police opened an investigation on November 13 on the collapse of FTX. In other words 24 hours after that the authorities took control of the funds of the exchange, which is not without raising the question of the legal framework in which the operations of seizures took place in this case decidedly out of the ordinary in all respects.
It is still difficult to discern the consequences of this standoff between regulators, all the more pugnacious as the sums and interests at stake are staggering. A nagging question also arises: once the bankruptcy of FTX on US territory is invalidated, what about the reality of the radius of action? of its new CEO John RAY, set up by an American court whose authority is now disputed? For the worst of reasons, the FTX file has definitely not finished talking about him.
For you, blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies will soon be at the heart of the daily life of each of us. You can expose yourself to Bitcoin, Ethereum and other tokens on the rising exchange. Registers now on Bitget and begin to familiarize yourself with this world (commercial link).