The US Securities And Exchange Commission (SEC) And The Department Of Justice (DOJ) Have Begun To Investigate The FTX Crypto Exchange

JAKARTA The fall of the FTX crypto exchange triggered US authorities to investigate the crypto trading company founded by Sam Bankman-Fried. Those who started the investigation include the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US Depertement of Justice (DOJ) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The SEC and DOJ are conducting an investigation into the turmoil surrounding FTX.com and its liquidity crisis, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, November 10, 2022. Not only that, but DOJ is also trying to uncover forms of criminal offenses including the possibility of fraud. Meanwhile, the SEC is focused on violating securities law.

In addition, the SEC and CFTC are investigating whether FTX.com mishandled customer funds, the publication added that financial regulators are also looking at the company's relationship with other parts of Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto business empire.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, the SEC has been investigating FTX for months, focusing on the US company's branch, FTX US. The securities regulator has now expanded its investigation into crypto platforms.

The SEC believes that some of the dozens of crypto tokens listed on US FTX exchanges and company loan products may be securities under US securities laws and should have been registered with the SEC before being sold to investors. If this is the case, then the handling of FTX customer assets may violate US exchange laws.

SEC chairman Gary Gensler stressed his concerns Wednesday during the Health Market Association conference amid uncertainty surrounding FTX. Stressed that the crypto industry has been operating beyond the scrutiny of traditional financial markets.

"I've been saying this for more than a year now in this work: Sign in, be registered, be included in the securities law," Gensler said.

Furthermore, he stressed the risks of crypto companies serving as major intermediaries where the same companies serve many roles, such as exchanges and market makers. The situation experienced by FTX has had a domino effect in the crypto industry, including having an impact on crypto lending firm BlockFi and others.