Bahamas regulator says it has seized $3.5 billion in FTX crypto assets

Bahamian securities regulators said they seized $3.5 billion worth of digital assets from FTX’s local operations in mid-November as the cryptocurrency exchange spiraled toward collapse, a figure FTX’s U.S. executives cast doubt on Friday.

Christina Rolle, executive director of the Securities Commission of the Bahamas, said in a statement released Thursday that the commission sought control over crypto assets held by FTX Digital Markets Ltd. last month after FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried told local authorities under oath about a hacking attempt. Her affidavit, filed in the Supreme Court of the Bahamas, also confirmed that the Securities and Exchange Commission relied on Mr. Bankman-Fried and another FTX co-founder, Gary Wang, to make the transfers happen.