The collapse of FTX has been a long and tangled web, with much more to come. We present a timeline of the FTX crisis which we will update with new developments when they happen.
November 2
Coindesk reveals that roughly $5.8 billion out of $14.6 billion of assets owned by Alameda Research, the trading wing of FTX, were linked to FTX’s exchange token, FTT.
November 6
Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison tries to calm the waters by saying that the figures don’t include $10 billion in assets that weren’t reflected and other unlisted hedges.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao announces that Binance will sell its gargantuan holdings in FTT, which it received in return for selling $2.1 billion in FTX equity in 2021. Ellison offers to buy them all at $22.
FTX users deluge the exchange with withdrawals, leading to delays in processing and suggestions that the exchange cannot meet user funds.
November 8
A massive sell order on FTT causes the token price to crash from $22 to $15. Bankman-Fried tweets that “FTX is fine” and that all assets are covered, but deletes it soon afterwards. Data shows that around $6 billion of withdrawals was submitted to FTX in the prior 72 hours.
Zhao and Bankman-Fried announce that Binance is looking into acquiring FTX, leading to a short term recovery in the crypto markets.
Allegations emerge that FTX used customer funds for its own money-making activities and that U.S. authorities were looking into FTX’s issues, with particular focus on the alleged misuse of customer funds.
The FTT token crashes from $18 to $4.20.
November 9
Reports emerge that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Justice Department had been looking into FTX’s American arm, FTX US, for potential securities violations for months.
Binance steps aways from the deal citing “corporate due diligence, as well as the latest news reports regarding mishandled customer funds and alleged US agency investigations.”
November 10
Bankman-Fried says the company is trying to secure funding following the collapse of Binance and says that Alameda Research is being wound down.
The Securities Commission of The Bahamas orders FTX funds to be seized.
November 11
FTX files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Bankman-Fried resigns. His personal wealth is reported to have dropped from $15 billion to just $3 within 10 days.
November 12
Someone steals $477 million worth of assets from the exchange while they are being secured in cold storage.
Reuters reports that between $1-2 billion was “missing” from the exchange, part of $10 billion including user funds that Bankman-Fried sent to Alameda Research from FTX to trade with.
The Financial Times reports that FTX held just $900 million in easily sellable assets against $9 billion worth of liabilities.
November 13
Kraken says it has identified the hackers as FTX/Alameda Research executives and frozen their accounts.
Bahamian police announce that they are working with the Bahamas Securities Commission to identify any illegal activities from FTX and its executives.
November 16
A class action lawsuit against Sam Bankman-Fried and several high profile promoters is filed.
The Bahamian liquidator says that FTX was not authorized to file for bankruptcy in the U.S. and cites “serious fraud and mismanagement” in its first court filing.
November 17
The first report from the new CEO, John J. Ray III, says the company was run worse than Enron.
December 12
Sam Bankman-Fried is arrested in the Bahamas, hours before he is due to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, at the request of U.S. authorities. Bankman-Fried is charged with multiple crimes including wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and money laundering.
December 13
Sam Bankman-Fried is denied bail following his arrest, after also being charged with orchestrating a scheme to defraud equity investors by the SEC.
December 19
Sam Bankman-Fried agrees to U.S. extradition.
December 21
Co-founder of FTX Gary Wang and Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison both plead guilty to unsealed charges in the U.S. They are also hit with separate charges by the SEC and CFTC.
January 3, 2023
Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty to all charges. His trial is set for October.
November 3, 2023
Sam Bankman-Fried is found guilty on all charges.
