Bahamian regulator holding $3.5 billion of FTX customer assets

The Securities Commission of the Bahamas has been holding on to more than $3.5 billion worth of FTX customer assets since Nov. 12, according to a statement from the regulator released late on Thursday. 

The decision to take custody of the funds, specifically from the crypto exchange’s FTX Digital Markets Ltd, followed security concerns. Hours after the collapsed crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy protection, between $370 million and $400 million in crypto assets were stolen from the exchange’s wallets. The hack is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The funds are stored on “digital wallets controlled by the Commission, for safekeeping,” the Commission wrote in the statement. The assets will remain in the Commission’s control until the Bahamas Supreme Court orders their return to FTX customers and creditors.

The regulator previously stated that it transferred FTX Digital Markets’ assets to a digital wallet in its control in November.

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