It has been revealed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) deleted text message records belonging to former FTX Chairman Gary Gensler during the FTX bankruptcy process. Industry representatives claim this was not a simple error but an attempt to suppress evidence.
According to a report published by the SEC Office of Comptroller, Gensler’s official mobile phone stopped syncing with agency systems on July 6, 2023. Then, under a new automatic policy implemented by the agency in August 2023, all data on devices that were not used for 45 days was deleted.
The report stated that the messages in question were initially recoverable, but due to the IT team accidentally performing a factory reset, all records between October 18, 2022, and September 6, 2023, were irreversibly deleted.
The period covered by the deleted messages coincides with the critical period when FTX went bankrupt in November 2022 and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was found guilty in November 2023. This situation raised suspicions of “obstruction of evidence” within the industry.
Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal issued a scathing statement, saying, “This is not an ‘error.’ This is the destruction of evidence related to ongoing cases. Those who readily accuse others should be held to a much higher standard of accountability.”
*This is not investment advice.