Sam Bankman-Fried’s $700M Worth Assets Seized by U.S Fed

• The crypto exchange bought assets under FTX Digital Markets name in US currency.
• FTX held stock in three accounts at rival cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

U.S Federal prosecutors seized around $700 million in cash and assets. That was either owned by the defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX or associated with its founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, ‘SBF.’

According to a court document filed on Friday, federal investigators in the Southern District of New York have seized FTX’s assets. And US Attorney, Damian Williams, mentioned 10 accounts that hold a mix of shares, cash, and cryptocurrency. 

Since the U.S authorities seized the funds-containing accounts between January 4 and January 19, 2023. The holding company used to buy the shares under the name “FTX Digital Markets” in US currency over $171 million. Also, the exchange held assets in three Binance accounts. 

The Majority of Assets Consisted of Robinhood Stock

Following the crypto exchange FTX’s sudden collapse, John Ray, was designated to replace Sam Bankman-Fried as CEO of FTX on November 12, 2022. He is now attempting to recover the funds, that customers of the cryptocurrency company lost when the company went bankrupt in November, 2022.

Further, the report reveals that the majority of the profits of the recovered assets come from Robinhood shares. Which Bankman-Fried reportedly bought with the funds taken from FTX customers while he was involved in fraudulent activity. Fed seized Bankman-Fried’s 55 million shares in Robinhood Markets, which has a market value of about $526 million as of Friday’s closing price. 

Additionally, the U.S Department of Justice seized $456 million worth of Robinhood stock in earlier January. That was obtained by Bankman-Fried and Wang, with a loan of $546 million from Alameda Research FTX’s sister trading firm. 

However, after Bankman-Fried was arrested in December, the fraudster entered a not-guilty plea to an eight-count complaint. That included fraud charges and breaking campaign finance laws. Now he is freed on a $250 million bond and awaits trial.

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