On Friday, Axios reported that collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX secretly funded cryptocurrency news outlet the Block by routing operating funds to the outlet’s chief executive, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The report noted that employees of the Block were unaware of the financial arrangement.
FTX did not respond to requests for comment, while disgraced former chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried did not respond to a phone call and text message requesting comment.
Bankman-Fried also missed a deadline to respond to a request for testimony from congressional investigators probing the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange. This will likely be followed by a congressional subpoena to testify in their hearings.
As Reuters reported, the collapse of the exchange is now the focus of regulators around the world, from the Bahamas, where the exchange operated, to the United States, where many investors resided.
In a report in the New York Post, Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary noted he had invested $15 million in the exchange’s proprietary FTT token. He was quoted as saying,, “Look Sam, I am just one investor, but my account has a zero in it, and there are no accounting records. Where did the money go? I need to find where the money went.”
After the exchange filed for bankruptcy last month, following a liquidity crisis triggered by a spike in withdrawals, it was noted that at least $1 billion worth of customer funds had vanished.