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Former FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried, who faces fraud charges over the collapse of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, arrives on the day of a hearing at Manhattan federal court in New York City, January 3, 2023.

David Dee Delgado | Reuters

FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried paid out tens of millions of dollars worth of bribes to at least one Chinese government official, federal prosecutors alleged in a new indictment Tuesday.

The federal government alleges that accounts belonging to Bankman-Fried's hedge fund, Alameda Research, were the target of a freezing order from Chinese police "in or around" Nov. 2021. The indictment also alleges that Bankman-Fried and others "directed and caused the transfer" of at least $40 million in cryptocurrency "intended for the benefit of one or more Chinese government officials in order to influence and induce them" to unfreeze some of these accounts.

Bankman-Fried and his associates considered and tried "numerous methods" to unfreeze the accounts, which contained around $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency, prosecutors allege. Ultimately, after both legal and personal efforts failed, Bankman-Fried agreed and directed a multi-million dollar bribe to unlock the frozen accounts, prosecutors allege.

Bankman-Fried's hedge fund used the unfrozen assets to continue to fund Alameda's loss-generating trades, continuing on what the government says was a fraud upon customers and investors for another year. FTX and Alameda imploded in Nov. 2022 after concerns about their balance sheet turned into a veritable bank run. Bankman-Fried now faces a federal indictment and civil charges from both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The charges indicate that new evidence has been obtained by the federal government about Bankman-Fried's international dealings, and it comes one day after U.S. regulators slapped crypto exchange Binance with allegations of facilitating terrorist financing and violations of U.S. derivatives law.

Meanwhile, Bankman-Fried's collapsed FTX remains mired in Delaware bankruptcy court proceedings.

CNBC reached out to a spokesperson for Bankman-Fried but did not immediately hear back.

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Sam Bankman-Fried paid over $40 million to bribe at least one Chinese official, DOJ alleges in new indictment - CNBC

(Adds details, context)

NEW YORK, March 28 (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Tuesday unveiled a new indictment against Sam Bankman-Fried, charging the founder of now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange with conspiring to violate anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan accused Bankman-Fried of directing the transfer of at least $40 million of cryptocurrency to benefit Chinese government officials.

In a court filing, they asked U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan to arrange a court hearing so Bankman-Fried can be arraigned on the new, 13-count indictment.

The 31-year-old former billionaire had previously pleaded not guilty to eight counts over the collapse of FTX. Prosecutors say Bankman-Fried stole billions of dollars in customer funds to plug losses at Alameda Research, his crypto-focused hedge fund.

A spokesman for Bankman-Fried did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Luc Cohen and Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

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UPDATE 1-FTX's Bankman-Fried charged with bribery conspiracy in new indictment - Yahoo Finance

Banking regulators will face tough questions from Congress today while the U.S. brings a case against the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange. Heres what investors need to know today.

Top U.S. banking regulators are scheduled to appear this morning before the Senate BankingCommittee to discuss the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Witnesses will include FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg, Fed Vice Chair Michael Barr, and U.S. Under Secretary of Treasury Nellie Liang.

U.S. regulators sued Binance alleging the operator of the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange and its founder Zhao Changpeng kept an illegal foothold in the American market and violated rules designed to prevent illicit financial activity. A Binance spokesperson called the CFTCs actions unexpected and disappointing, saying the company had made significant investments over the past two years to ensure we do not have U.S. users active on our platform.

Alibaba (BABA) shares are rising more than 6% in pre-market trading on a report the company plans to split its $220 billion empire into six main units that will individually raise funds and explore IPOs. The plan to split into units covering ecommerce, media, and the cloud would mark the biggest overhaul of Chinas ecommerce leader since its inception more than two decades ago.

Shares of ride hailing company Lyft (LYFT) are up more than 5% in pre-market trading after the company announced it has hired board member David Risher as its new CEO. The founders of the company, Logan Green and John Zimmer, will step back from day-to-day management of the company.

Facebook reportedly plans to lower bonus payouts for some staff. Parent Meta Platforms says it will more frequently assess employee performance as part of a sweeping revamp that includes large job cuts.

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5 Things to Know Before Markets Open - Investopedia

Shakira has been in the music industry for several decades. She released her first-ever music album back in 1995. Since then, the Colombian singer has never looked back. She has had the courage to try her hand at several music genres. Due to that, she has also managed to acquire a very diversified fan base. The Colombian singer has had several key people that have helped her along the way.

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One of those people is Jairo Martinez, her long-time friend, and ex-manager. In retrospect, Martinez is indirectly credited for launching the singers career.

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In the latest interview, Martinez shockingly opened up on the scam that cost him a fortune. Recently, he was seemingly the victim of a cryptocurrency racket and lost a humongous chunk of money.

Jairo Martinez is a renowned celebrity representative. Unfortunately, the man who helped kickstart Shakiras career was a victim of a major fraud. In an exclusive interview with Vanguardia, he assertively said, You think you know them all, but theres always someone more cunning than you. You never finish getting to know people.

He continued, I handed over $600 million and was scammed. Keeping my job has helped me to meet the debts I have that are many. He also revealed that he was overconfident about investing in cryptocurrencies. Even after the major financial hit, Martinez continues working hard to pay off his debts.

But the cryptocurrency scam has majorly dented his bank accounts. Even after having such a successful career, he is currently living on a rice and egg diet at the age of 70. Apart from Shakira, Martinez has rubbed shoulders with influential names like Ricky Martin, Noemi Sanin, and many more.

This begs the question; how did Martinez have an impact on Shakiras life?

Back in 1995, Shakira was just trying to establish her foundation in the global music industry. The young Colombian was definitely in need of some professional advice. Thats when her long-time friend talent manager and promoter, Jairo Martinez came into the picture. Martinez used to be in direct contact with Emilio Estefan. At that time, Estefan was the most renowned producer in the Hispanic market.

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Naturally, Martinez thought that Estefan would be the perfect fit for Shakiras career which was at a nascent stage. After meeting Shakira, Estefan saw the WakaWaka singers pure potential, especially to break into the US Latin music market.

However, Jairo Martinez didnt leave Shakiras side after introducing her to Estefan. He became the director of public relations and promotions at Estefans company. He then helped a number of musicians and celebrities while also helping Shakira aim for the stars.

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WATCH THIS STORY: Moving Hips With Shakiras Waka-Waka to Dancing With Ricky Martins La Copa de la Vida Collection of Songs That Moved the Soccer Fraternity

What do you think about Jairo Martinez losing $600 million on a cryptocurrency scam? Let us know in the comments below.

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They Scammed Me.. Ex-Manager of Shakira Lost $600,000,000 in Cryptocurrency Scandal and Lives Off on Rice and Eggs - EssentiallySports

March 28 (Reuters) - Bullish bitcoin has been a surprise winner of the banking blowout. Yet investors aiming to amp up their bets face an ominous obstacle: a lack of liquidity that could trigger wild price swings.

The price of the No.1 cryptocurrency has jumped 40% to around $27,700 since March 10, when the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) careered into mainstream markets.

On the flip side, though, its liquidity is drying up.

Bitcoin's market depth indicates the asset is at its lowest level of liquidity in 10 months, even lower than in the aftermath of the FTX collapse in November, according to data provider Kaiko. The market depth for the two leading trading pairs - bitcoin-dollar and bitcoin-tether - stands at 5,600 bitcoin, the equivalent of about $155 million, Kaiko said.

"As a market maker we try to provide liquidity where we can but we're facing a difficult situation," said Kevin de Patoul, CEO of Keyrock. "There is a big network effect here. In the short term at least, liquidity will remain a challenge."

Slippage, a liquidity measure describing how much prices change between the placement and execution of a trade, has also increased. Slippage for buying bitcoin with U.S. dollars on the Coinbase exchange is 2.5 times higher than it was at the start of March, said Conor Ryder, research analyst at Kaiko.

The slippage for a simulated $100,000 sell order has doubled in the past month, meaning the average price you get for each bitcoin is worse than a month ago, Kaiko said.

The network effect de Patoul referred to was the collapses of Silvergate Capital and Signature Bank, whose networks had long been used by market makers - which expand liquidity by rapidly buying and selling tokens - to transact with exchanges.

Lower liquidity typically translates to more volatile markets, especially in crypto. Kaiko's Ryder said this was possibly one factor behind bitcoin's leap this month.

CryptoCompare's Bitcoin Volatility Index spiked to 96 last week, way higher than the range of 52 to 65 it saw last month as the cryptocurrency held its footing despite broader market turmoil. The index is currently hovering around 68.

Further crimping liquidity, Binance - the world's most liquid crypto exchange - ended zero-fee trading for nearly all its bitcoin trading pairs last week, hitting market makers' ability to charge higher fees for executing trades on the platform.

Liquidity for the bitcoin-tether pair on Binance has dropped 70% since the announcement, while trading volumes have fallen 90%, according to Kaiko data.

The vanishing liquidity can be traced back to the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX exchange and hedge fund Alameda Research. Alameda was one of the biggest liquidity providers in the crypto industry, and its bankruptcy left a void that has been exacerbated by the banking sector turmoil of 2023.

While most market participants expect new contenders to gradually emerge to perform the network functions of Silvergate and Signature, they say complete replacements are unlikely to pop up overnight.

Until then, "liquidity is probably going to get worse and worse", said Joseph Edwards, investment adviser at Enigma Securities.

Furthermore, it's not just market-maker trouble that's crunching crypto liquidity; Despite bitcoin's recent rally following a lengthy downturn, many investors are still trading cautiously in the wake of the banking crises and rising interest rates, some specialists say.

"Even if some players haven't left the place, they are on the sidelines right now because of what's happening with banking turmoil," Edwards said.

Reporting by Medha Singh and Lisa Mattackal in Bengaluru; Editing by Vidya Ranganathan and Pravin Char

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

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Cryptoverse: Buoyant bitcoin's losing its liquidity - Reuters.com