The FTX story is getting more interesting as time passes. It all started with the main characters of MIT graduates, the scholars who are shaping the crypto space and leading the way on regulations on behalf of the crypto space, and now the story is a twist where all these so-called ‘Hero’ are the masked villains who took users funds and left creditors with the millions in whole. Now let’s keep up with the story!

1. FTX Saga: Co-Founder Gary Wang & Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison Plead Guilty!

After signing the extradition, Sam Bankman-Fried was deported to the USA and is now currently held in the custody. As you all might know, Sam Bankman-Fried aka SBF, the former CEO of FTX was arrested by the Bahamian authorities, and then under the treaty with the US, SBF signed the extradition papers and brought him back to the US. Return of the SBF stormed Twitter with the images of SBF carrying his belongings while extradition as well as the picture at the airport.

On the same day, when SBF was brought back to the USA, his colleagues Gary Wang (Co-Founder of FTX) and Caroline Ellison (CEO of Alameda Research) plead guilty to the federal charges. Gary Wang is the mind behind all the technical operations that are going on in this mess. He created a back door for Alameda using which they can use the FTX’s customer funds and use them. CFTC and SEC both institutions filed a civil complaint against these people, yes civil charges not criminal ones! Some of the charges against Gary Wang are - conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud & others, and against Caroline Ellison – conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit commodities and securities fraud & others.

Now the complaints are filed against these masterminds behind the FTX’s collapse, one thing is for sure these people are going for a long jail time. As the investigation is ongoing, it is possible that this is only the tip of the iceberg! The announcement regarding this came from US Attorney Damian Williams:

All people who invested in the FTX (VCs, angel investors) saw the educational background of the team, their MIT degrees, and their greed! This shows us that businesses don’t run on the technical parts only, it is important to check the how ethical team is, and what are their business principles. I am sure many of the FTX VCs like Kevin O’Leary might have an idea how FTX is growing rapidly, and trust me greed is the only thing behind all these collapses, not only FTX but all including Celsius Network, the 2008-9 crisis, hundreds of traditional banks who got defaulted, and thousands of other collapsed businesses. The only sad part of this collapses is that the common people like you and me suffer the most!

But it is also important to not judge the entire industry because of these ‘rotten onions’, there are people who are actually working hard just to bring their ideas to life and impact society in a good way. So lastly, we should not get demotivated and should put some trust in builders, (not in centralized platforms!) and do get driven by greed, cause at the root of every collapse it's GREED!

Official Documents:

Gary Wang – Plea Agreement

Caroline Ellison – Plea Agreement

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