The joint provisional liquidators of FTX Digital Markets — the firm’s subsidiary in the Bahamas — has released a report on the company’s physical assets in the island nation. According to affidavit filed by a PricewaterhouseCoopers partner with the Bahamas’ supreme court on Feb. 8, FTX’s joint provisional liquidators, or JPLs, said the company had purchased 52 properties in the Bahamas, including units “in the name of individual employees or relatives of SBF, despite FTX Digital providing the funding”. These properties, which included housing for FTX employees and commercial office space, were worth roughly $255 million and purchased by an …

The same week that Bulgarian authorities were raiding Nexo’s offices and indicting four individuals for charges related to money laundering, the crypto lender filed suit in the Cayman Islands. In a document dated Jan. 12, Nexo filed a lawsuit against the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, or CIMA, for denying its registration as a virtual asset service provider (VASP) in the island nation. The crypto lender asked the court to overturn the financial regulator’s decision as it was “suitable” to provide crypto services to Cayman Islands residents. According to court documents, Nexo applied to CIMA in January 2021, providing additional information …

A lawyer representing provisional liquidators overseeing FTX’s assets has pushed back against allegations officials in the Bahamas were using the collapse of the crypto exchange to benefit its residents first. In a Dec. 16 hearing for FTX Trading’s bankruptcy proceedings, White & Case partner Jason Zakia said allegations made by debtors concerning FTX assets and Bahamian authorities were “wholly without merit”. The legal team represented provisional liquidators whose appointments were approved by the Supreme Court of the Bahamas in November and had “no involvement” in the downfall of FTX prior to its bankruptcy, according to Zakia. “In any international case …

After being denied bail in a Bahamas Magistrate Court, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried could spend up to two months in the country’s Fox Hill Prison, a facility with reported cases of physical abuse against prisoners and “harsh” conditions. Authorities in the Bahamas reportedly remanded Bankman-Fried to the medical wing of Fox Hill following a Dec. 13 hearing. SBF’s counsel said he had been taking medication prior to his arrest on Dec. 12 including Adderall and anti-depressants, but it’s unclear if the former CEO will serve his time at the correctional facility, its medical unit, or an alternative location. According …

Cryptocurrency exchange Huobi has partnered with the Commonwealth of Dominica to roll out a digital identity and national token service that promises digital citizenship of the West Indian island nation. Not to be confused with the nearby, larger Dominican Republic, Dominica is home to some 72,000 people and is situated in the middle of the Lesser Antilles archipelago. The government is looking to explore metaverse and Web3 technology to drive its development and attract talent from the cryptocurrency and blockchain ecosystem. The island nation is one of the first Caribbean countries to adopt a Citizenship by Investment program. Dominica passports …

The Bahamas Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs Ryan Pinder has confirmed that the collapsed crypto exchange FTX is the focus of an "active and ongoing" investigation by authorities from the Caribbean nation. In a national statement that was delivered live on the Facebook page of the Office of the Prime Minister on Nov. 27, Pinder explained the "affairs of FTX Digital Markets" are under scrutiny from both "civil and criminal authorities" and Bahamian authorities are working with "a number of specialists and experts and will continue to do so as the need arises." "The Securities Commission, our …

The Securities Commission of The Bahamas says the continued “hacking attempts” on FTX’s digital assets prove they made the right call to take control of the exchange’s assets on Nov. 12. In a statement on Nov. 23, the commission said the fact that FTX's "systems were compromised, and that they continue to face new hacking attempts – reinforces the wisdom of the commission's prompt action to secure these digital assets." On the same day that FTX filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11, the crypto community began flagging roughly $266.3 million worth of outflows on wallets associated with FTX. By Nov. …

Brian Simms, the court-appointed provisional liquidator overseeing the bankruptcy proceedings of FTX Digital Markets in The Bahamas, has called into question the validity of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by subsidiary FTX Trading and 134 other affiliates in a Delaware court on Nov. 14. In the Nov. 15 document, Simms filed for Chapter 15 Bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York, which is used when a foreign representative of the debtor seeks recognition in the U.S. for a pending foreign insolvency proceeding. In the filing Simms notes FTX Digital is not part of …

The Supreme Court of the Bahamas — where FTX Digital Marketsis headquartered — has approved two provisional liquidators to oversee the crypto exchange’s assets. According to a Nov. 14 announcement from the Bahamas' Securities Commission, the country’s supreme court approved the appointments of PricewaterhouseCoopers advisory partner Kevin Cambridge and partner Peter Greaves to act as “joint provisional liquidators” for FTX. The securities regulator also applied to have Brian Simms, a senior partner of Bahamas-based commercial law firm Lennox Patton, as a provision liquidator on Nov. 10. “Given the magnitude, urgency, and international implications of the unfolding events with regard to …

The Caribbean nation of St. Kitts & Nevis may declare Bitcoin Cash legal tender by March 2023. Prime Minister Terrance Drew made that announcement while he spoke at the BitcoinCash2022 Conference in St. Kitts on Nov. 12. St. Kitts & Nevis is a member of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) and part of the ECCB’s DCash central bank digital currency (CBDC) program, which was launched in March 2019. “Our nation has always been a forward-thinking nation and a leader in exploring new technologies that can advance our people,” Drew said, but he added: “I can confirm that we are …

Chinese crypto exchange, which recently has had to disavow the rumors about massive layoffs inside the company, unveiled the plans to move its headquarters to one of the jurisdictions in the Caribbean, with Dominica being the first candidate. In the report from Nov. 1, citing one of the board members, the FT revealed the company's intention “to go all in in the Caribbean.” The reason is the region’s “super-friendly” crypto stance, common law systems and English language adoption. Among Dominica, the “frontrunners” among the local nations to host Huobi are Panama and the Bahamas. Huobi representative already met Dominica’s prime …

Nikolai Mushegian, a co-founder of the cryptocurrency lending platform MakerDAO and the decentralized Dai (DAI) stablecoin, was found dead in Puerto Rico last week. Mushegian died due to drowning after being dragged by sea currents on the Condado beach in San Juan, the local newspaper El Nuevo Día reported. Mushegian had no vital signs by the time his body was rescued. The Condado beach is considered one of the world’s most dangerous places for swimmers, reportedly taking the lives of at least eight people in 2021. The unfortunate event was reported to local authorities on the morning on Oct. 28. …