FTX collapse (2022): Exchange, token, trading firm

FTX Trading Ltd. and related companies, a Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange group founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, halted withdrawals and filed for Chapter 11 protection in the District of Delaware on 11 November 2022. A leaked Alameda Research balance sheet, a run after Binance's public comments, and the exchange's inability to meet customer redemptions had ended a firm that had been valued in the tens of billions in private markets earlier that year.

John J. Ray III, appointed chief executive in the bankruptcy, told the U.S. House that control of assets and records was unusually poor. Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York charged Bankman-Fried with conspiracy and fraud offenses alleging that customer funds had been used by Alameda Research, a related trading firm. Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh pleaded guilty and cooperated.

On 2 November 2023 a Manhattan jury convicted Bankman-Fried on all seven counts tried, including wire fraud and conspiracy counts involving customers and lenders. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan sentenced him on 28 March 2024 to 25 years in prison and ordered forfeiture later described in the judgment as on the order of $11 billion. The bankruptcy estate later reported substantial recoveries for allowed customer claims, a separate ledger from the criminal sentence.