FTX claims to be making “every effort” to secure the assets

The new head of FTX, the currently bankrupt crypto giant, confirmed on Saturday that the company is doing “everything to secure all assets,” after unauthorized transactions that could lead to the disappearance of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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“FTX US and FTX.com continue to make every effort to secure all assets, wherever they are,” according to a statement from John Ray, the group’s new CEO and head of restructuring, which Ryne posted on Twitter on Saturday. Miller, Chief Legal Officer, FTX.

John Ray asserted that “unauthorized access to certain assets has occurred.”

This Friday replaced FTX Chairman Sam Bankman-Fried, its founder, who had just resigned. The cryptocurrency exchange platform, which is a very lightly regulated sector, was placed on the same day under Chapter 11 protection of the US Bankruptcy Code.

FTX officials did not provide details of the amount of transactions observed, but several hundred thousand dollars may have disappeared.

Thus, crypto-analytics firm Elliptic notes, in an analysis published on Saturday, that “just 24 hours after the bankruptcy announcement (…), more than $663 million in FTX wallets were emptied.”

In detail, “$477 million could have been stolen, while the rest would have been diverted to secure storage by FTX itself,” Elliptic determined.

FTX, which 10 days ago was the second largest cryptocurrency platform in the world with a value of about $32 billion, suffered a lightning defeat.

The company is now trying to reassure.

“Among other things, we are in the process of removing the trading and withdrawal functionality and transferring as many digital assets as possible to a new custodian of the cold wallet,” that is, an offline wallet intended to store cryptocurrencies, the new head of FTX explained in the statement posted on Twitter.

John Ray also specified that “an active fact-checking (…) was promptly launched in response. We have been in contact and coordinating with relevant law enforcement and regulators.”

Friday marked a turning point for FTX after a week of turmoil. Its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, 30, considered the origin of one of the most influential successes in the cryptocurrency world and to date a billionaire, resigned and was replaced in the process by John Ray.

Then, overnight, FTX’s chief legal officer, Ryne Miller, tweeted about an “investigation of anomalies with portfolio movements related to the consolidation of FTX balances between exchanges,” and noted “unclear facts because other movements are unclear.”

Then, on Saturday morning, he noted that “unauthorized transactions” were observed, and that the platform “has taken precautionary measures to move all digital assets into cold storage.”

“The process was accelerated (Friday) evening – to mitigate damage when unauthorized transactions are monitored,” he said.

The unease emerged when press reports revealed that its Alameda Research Fund was investing in crypto assets issued by FTX.com in a risky financial arrangement that risks exposing a significant conflict of interest.

FTX problems were also confirmed by the number one in the sector, Binance, who announced that it was selling a cryptocurrency tied to the FTX group on Sunday and then offered to buy FTX.com on Tuesday before pulling back on Wednesday.

The group is under investigation by the Securities Commission and the New York Department of Justice, according to the New York Times, citing sources familiar with the investigation.

And the fall from favor extended to the NBA, with the Miami Heat announcing that their stadium, the FTX Arena, would be renamed.