Summary
FTX was a Bahamas-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange founded in May 2019 by Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang that grew to a peak valuation of $32 billion before collapsing in November 2022 amid revelations that customer funds had been systematically misappropriated and funneled to affiliated trading firm Alameda Research. The collapse, one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history, resulted in an estimated $8 billion shortfall in customer deposits, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing covering more than 130 affiliated entities, and criminal convictions for multiple executives including a 25-year prison sentence for founder Sam Bankman-Fried. Recovery proceedings under successor CEO John Ray III have since distributed more than $10 billion to creditors, with 98% of creditors slated to receive 119% of their November 2022 claim values.
On-Chain Risk Signals
via GoPlus Security- Token can be minted
- Contract is open-source
- Listed on a DEX
No signals reported.
Machine-generated risk signals from GoPlus Security. Findings are point-in-time snapshots and can change. Reviewed by an editor before publication; re-fetched weekly.
Connected Entities
18 entities · 3 linked investigations- + 45 more
Connected Through
3 shared actors · 3 investigationsDistinct actors this investigation shares with others — holders, traders, and named parties. Shared infrastructure (exchanges, pools) is excluded.
- □Alameda Researchorganization
- ○Changpeng Zhaoindividualalso inBinance·45
- □Sequoia Capitalorganizationalso inPhantom Wallet·63
Timeline(34 events)
2017-01-01
Sam Bankman-Fried and colleagues from Jane Street found Alameda Research, a crypto quantitative trading firm, in Berkeley, California.
2019-05-01
FTX exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang. The exchange is incubated within Alameda Research. Alameda begins accessing FTX customer funds, per later trial testimony.
2019-07-01
FTT token launches as FTX's proprietary exchange token, with the majority of supply held by FTX and Alameda insiders.
2019-12-01
Binance acquires approximately 20% equity stake in FTX for roughly $100 million.
2021-07-20
FTX raises $900 million at an $18 billion valuation from more than 60 investors including SoftBank and Sequoia Capital.
2021-09-01
FTX moves headquarters from Hong Kong to Nassau, The Bahamas.
2021-10-01
FTX buys back Binance's equity stake for approximately $2.1 billion in BUSD and FTT tokens.
2022-01-14
FTX raises $400 million in Series C funding at a $32 billion valuation. Announces FTX Ventures with a $2 billion fund.
2022-05-01
LedgerX engineers discover code giving Alameda special privileges — including the 'Allow Negative' backdoor — and raise concerns internally. The engineer who escalated the issue is later fired.
2022-11-02
CoinDesk publishes a report revealing Alameda Research's balance sheet is heavily concentrated in FTT tokens, exposing the financial entanglement between FTX and Alameda.
2022-11-06
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao announces on Twitter that Binance will liquidate its FTT holdings due to 'recent revelations,' triggering a market panic.
2022-11-08
Binance signs a non-binding letter of intent to acquire FTX. FTT price collapses approximately 80%, wiping more than $2 billion in value. FTX experiences an estimated $6 billion bank run.
2022-11-09
Binance withdraws from the FTX acquisition after reviewing FTX's books, citing mishandled customer funds and regulatory investigations.
2022-11-11
FTX Trading Ltd., FTX US, Alameda Research, and approximately 130 affiliated entities file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Sam Bankman-Fried resigns as CEO. John J. Ray III is appointed CEO.
2022-12-01
U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee holds a hearing, 'Why Congress Needs to Act: Lessons Learned From the FTX Collapse,' featuring CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam.
2022-12-12
Sam Bankman-Fried arrested in Nassau, Bahamas by Royal Bahamas Police Force. DOJ, SEC, and CFTC file parallel criminal and civil charges.
2022-12-13
John J. Ray III testifies before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, describing 'a complete failure of corporate controls' at FTX.
2022-12-21
Sam Bankman-Fried extradited to the United States after consenting to extradition.
2022-12-22
Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison plead guilty to multiple fraud-related charges and agree to cooperate with prosecutors.
2023-02-01
Nishad Singh pleads guilty to fraud and campaign finance violations, agrees to cooperate with prosecutors.
2023-09-01
Ryan Salame pleads guilty to conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.
2023-10-03
Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried begins in the Southern District of New York before Judge Lewis Kaplan.
2023-11-02
Jury finds Sam Bankman-Fried guilty on all seven criminal counts.
2024-03-28
Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in federal prison and ordered to forfeit $11.02 billion.
2024-04-11
Sam Bankman-Fried files an appeal of his conviction and sentence.
2024-05-28
Ryan Salame sentenced to 7.5 years in federal prison.
2024-08-01
CFTC obtains $12.7 billion consent judgment against FTX and Alameda Research — the largest monetary sanction in CFTC history.
2024-09-24
Caroline Ellison sentenced to two years in federal prison and ordered to forfeit $11 billion.
2024-10-07
Delaware bankruptcy court approves FTX's reorganization plan, providing 98% of creditors with 119% of their November 2022 claim values plus interest.
2025-02-18
First distribution to FTX creditors begins: approximately $454 million paid out.
2025-05-30
Second creditor distribution of approximately $5 billion.
2025-09-30
Third creditor distribution of approximately $1.6 billion. Cumulative distributions reach approximately $7.1 billion.
2026-01-01
Caroline Ellison released from federal custody after serving approximately 14 months.
2026-03-31
Fourth creditor distribution of approximately $2.2 billion commences. Cumulative distributions exceed $10 billion.
Decision Log
- hash: 7h51AFvEzfsUS3ktMeLYqigP7p5b1dmz8xj2J55LFUxL
- hash: 8MeguxKUVWyQdZrbaZc5RSrkCFmBhRLasKoTdphNZ3P7
- hash: 4qFQUwpzEa61JtR7EWj8xmMF7TcM884j8ue27wxTHPEg
- hash: 2BgzAAyb9qAMcTiryJSdRW5VXAeyDfWWgkik8pkAHyMb
- hash: 5Ygi6HFPnUekLR9ymeBKTrQu2kmk4Y4tZGbnfS6Tz3tB
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain and source URLs are archived via the Internet Archive.
model: claude-code-investigator
generated: 4/17/2026, 4:23:04 PM
last updated: 5/13/2026, 5:55:43 PM
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