BlockFi pauses client withdrawals from Bahamas crypto exchange FTX
Cryptocurrency financial institution BlockFi has suspended withdrawals from Bahamian cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
BlockFi posted a statement on Twitter on Friday, “We are shocked and dismayed by the news regarding FTX and Alameda. We, like the rest of the world, found out about this situation through Twitter.
“Given the lack of clarity on the status of FTX.com, FTX US and Alameda, we are not able to operate business as usual.
“Our priority has been and will continue to be to protect our clients and their interests.
“Until there is further clarity, we are limiting platform activity, including pausing client withdrawals as allowed under our terms. We will share more specifics as soon as possible. We request that clients not deposit to BlockFi Wallet or Interest Accounts at this time.
“We intend to communicate as frequently as possible going forward but anticipate that this will be less frequent than what our clients and other stakeholders are used to.”
Meanwhile, Poramin Insom, the founder and chief executive officer of Satang Corporation, analysed on Facebook that the domino effect of FTX is starting and suggested that investors withdraw their assets on BlockFi, Genesis, Wintermute, Amber, and Multicoin.
Gary Gensler, the chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, addressed the situation and cited the collapse of the inter-linked Luna and ‘stablecoin’ TerraUSD tokens, "I would not take the last two days as separate from what's happened in the last eight months.
He explained the situation as "lack of disclosure, opacity, we’ve seen the use of other people’s money and trading ahead”.
Moreover, the Bahamas Securities Commission has frozen the assets of FTX Digital Markets (FDM) and related parties.
Bahamas newspaper Nassau Guardian shared a statement on Twitter, “The commission is aware of public statements suggesting that clients’ assets were mishandled, mismanaged, and/or transferred to Alameda Research. Any such actions would have been contrary to normal governance, without client consent and potentially unlawful.”
“Since the unfolding of events involving FDM, the commission has proactively dealt with the situation and continues to do so. The commission determined that the prudent course of action was to put FDM into provisional liquidation to preserve assets and stabilise the company.”
Previously, Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, pulled out from a bailout deal with FTX.
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