Allegedly, US federal prosecutors launched an investigation against SBF, the founder of FTX, for market manipulation. The investigation is in its infancy and it is unclear whether prosecutors have identified any wrongdoing. As it is known, FTX filed for bankruptcy on November 11 after a week of intense liquidity crunch. With the development in question, cryptocurrencies such as Solana, FTT and Serum collapsed. Apart from that, allegations have emerged that FTX is manipulating other altcoins. Here are the details…
Not Solana: Manipulation of LUNA and UST?
The New York Times reported Wednesday that US federal prosecutors are investigating FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried for manipulating two cryptocurrencies last spring, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. They launched an investigation to determine whether Bankman-Fried controlled the TerraUSD (UST) and Terra (LUNA) prices in favor of FTX and its affiliated trading company Alameda Research, according to the Times.
The investigation is in its early stages and it is unclear whether prosecutors have identified any wrongdoing by the crypto exchange founder. The problems surrounding Bankman-Fried only increased after the collapse of FTX. As we reported as Kriptokoin.com, the exchange filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 11, after it failed to provide a recovery after a week of intense liquidity crunch. Bankman-Fried resigned as CEO the same day. At the time, Reuters reported that FTX transferred billions of dollars of client funds to Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research.
Bankman Fried told the Times on Wednesday that he was “not aware of any market manipulation”. He stated that he “absolutely has no intention of engaging in market manipulation.” “As far as I know, all transactions were for investment or hedging purposes,” he added, according to the Times.
There are also allegations of USDT manipulation
Meanwhile, other documents shared by the New York Times point to Tether (USDT), the largest stablecoin. As we reported yesterday, Binance CEO CZ said that Alameda is trying to bust USDT’s dollar peg. Zhao highlighted the $250,000 trade that Alameda said was done to destabilize Tether.
According to a document shared on the NYT, Binance CEO confronted Sam Bankman-Fried about FTX’s transaction. According to the documents, Sam Bankman-Fried asked Zhao, “Do you think we believe the $250,000 USDT transaction will destabilize?” said. Zhao stated that although $250,000 did not succeed in destroying Tether, it could cause certain problems.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that there is no certainty in these conversations. These alleged conversations are based on documents in the New York Times.
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