The New York Times reported on Wednesday that U.S. federal prosecutors are looking into whether Sam Bankman-Fried, the creator of FTX, manipulated the market for two cryptocurrencies in May, causing their demise and the demise of his own cryptocurrency exchange.
According to the source, the authorities are investigating whether Bankman-Fried manipulated the prices of two interconnected currencies, TerraUsd and Luna, to the advantage of the companies he owned, including FTX and Alameda Research.
The probe is still in its early stages, the newspaper reported, adding that it is unclear whether or when prosecutors started looking into the TerraUSD and Luna deals, or whether they have found evidence of Bankman-criminality. Fried’s
Requests for comment from a representative of the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office were not immediately returned.
FTX’s senior executives, including Bankman-Fried, are being looked at by regulators around the world, notably in the Bahamas, where the company is based, and in the US, according to a previous report by Reuters.
After experiencing a liquidity problem that caused at least $1 billion in lost customer funds, the cryptocurrency exchange declared bankruptcy last month.
Two persons with knowledge of the queries claim that U.S. authorities have recently asked investors and potential investors in FTX for information.
According to the sources, federal prosecutors in New York are requesting information on any conversations that these companies may have had with the crypto company’s management, including Bankman-Fried. The information requests were previously reported by Bloomberg.
Reuters’ request for comments received no response from FTX or Alameda research.
