Meltdown: Bitcoin crashes to $576

[inlinesix]

 

[Flying_genie]

16 minutes ago, Tkseah said:

Temasek write off S$377m..

https://www.straitstimes.com/business/temasek-to-write-down-us275-million-in-ftx-says-belief-in-bankman-fried-appear-to-be-misplaced

No worries. GST increase is more than sufficient to cover everything.

[Tkseah]

29 minutes ago, Flying_genie said:

No worries. GST increase is more than sufficient to cover everything.

Ya.. Temasek say write off is only 0.09% of net portfolio.. no significant impact.. 🤑

[Arogab]

48 minutes ago, Flying_genie said:

No worries. GST increase is more than sufficient to cover everything.

Wah lao, no need to increase GST lah. 2 times COE can cover everything liao. Why scared?

[inlinesix]

Since Temasek uses Govt Reserve for investment, is this raiding of reserve?

😂

[Jellandross]

 

 

[Windwaver]

https://www.99.co/singapore/insider/cryptocurrency-ftx-ceo-sam-bankman-fried-sbf-bahamas-penthouse-sale-usd40m/

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s Bahamas penthouse reportedly on sale for USD40m

Crypto exchange FTX International, its affiliates like FTX US and its trading firm, Alameda Research, have been in the news over the past few weeks.

Founded in 2019, FTX was a leading cryptocurrency exchange besides Binance and Coinbase, but has since gone insolvent for alleged misuse of its customers’ and investors’ funds to the tune of USD8-10b.

Just hours after it went into bankruptcy proceedings, and following the resignation of its founder and CEO, 30-year-old Sam Bankman-Fried – the exchange was reportedly hacked, and some claimed it could have been an insider or disgruntled employee whose promised vested life savings were gone.

Not only that, Singaporeans are reportedly FTX International’s 2nd largest customer base at 5.26% of the total user base, after South Koreans (6.21%). As of February 2022, FTX had 1 million users.

It is no understatement that there are many unhappy Singaporeans (and international users) whose funds in FTX are locked out (or presumably gone). Most of them are unable to withdraw their investments from these platforms.

It should also be noted that Singapore’s own Temasek Holdings, has invested USD210m, or a 1% stake, in FTX International, alongside other investment firms like Sequoia Capital, SoftBank and many more.

It also invested USD65m in FTX US. It has since written off these investments, totalling USD275m in a statement.

While Bankman-Fried (also known as SBF) is reportedly assisting with investigations in the Bahamas (where FTX International is headquartered), online chatter emerged that one of his properties in the Bahamas had been put on sale.

The Bahamas penthouse

Listed here for USD40m, the 12,000 square-foot penthouse is located in Albany Resort, a 600-acre oceanside, luxury resort community on the New Providence island in The Bahamas.

Here are some photos of the property, which is located in the Orchid building of the resort. The building has nine residences offering two to six bedrooms with 2,500 to 11,500 square feet spaces.

Designed by Morris Ajmi Architects, the Orchid sits overlooking the Albany Marina and the Atlantic Ocean. The Penthouse in Orchid is the cornerstone of the development as it has a sumptuous master bedroom suite with his and her bathrooms, walk-in closets and a private balcony with a lounge area and spa.

There are four other ensuite bedrooms and a grand living room with a dining area which opens onto an outdoor pool and patio. There is also a family entertainment room, a modern kitchen with a separate bar, an outdoor barbecue alcove and many more.

The penthouse is designed with Venetian plaster walls, matching Italian marble accents, German-engineered doors and windows, custom cabinets, an LED lighting system and a Creston smart home system. A security-coded private elevator for the owner connects him with his private garage.

While we cannot yet confirm that this is the penthouse where SBF and his inner circle of friends lived, there are similarities from past filmed interviews. For example, you can view Nas Daily’s previous interview with SBF and see him “chilling” in different parts of his penthouse where the backgrounds look similar.

As a result of the exchange fallout, Sam Bankman-Fried’s fortune plummeted from USD16b to near zero in just a few days.

In cryptocurrency circles, he isn’t the only one we’ve reported (whose fortunes turned for the worse and ended up having to liquidate assets like property).

We previously covered 3 Arrows Capital’s Su Zhu, who bought a Good Class Bungalow under a trustee in Yarwood Avenue for S$48.8m late last year. Similarly, the crypto hedge fund firm went into liquidation after losing its investments in cryptocurrency platforms like Terra Luna. There was speculation that some of his properties in Singapore may have had to be liquidated.

[Windwaver]

Singaporeans are reportedly FTX International’s 2nd largest customer base at 5.26% of the total user base, after South Koreans (6.21%). As of February 2022, FTX had 1 million users.

[Windwaver]

12 hours ago, inlinesix said:

 

https://www.straitstimes.com/business/ftx-investors-sue-tom-brady-gisele-bundchen-and-other-celebrity-endorsers-as-crypto-contagion-spreads

FTX investors sue Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen and other celebrity endorsers as crypto contagion spreads

NEW YORK – High-profile US sports stars and personalities have been named in a lawsuit over deceptive practices targeting investors who became victims of the stunning collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

The celebrities helped promote the exchange, which declared bankruptcy in the United States last week in a meltdown that has reverberated across the digital currency landscape and drawn scrutiny from the authorities in multiple countries.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday was the latest official to call for more oversight of the crypto industry.

American football star Tom Brady and his supermodel former wife Gisele Bundchen, retired basketball great Shaquille O’Neal, tennis Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, actor/comedian Larry David and Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary were among those named alongside FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried in the suit filed in the Miami federal court on Tuesday.

Investor Edwin Garrison of Oklahoma filed it on behalf of other investors to seek damages from losses suffered in the FTX implosion, accusing the firm of “misrepresentations and omissions”. “FTX’s fraudulent scheme was designed to take advantage of unsophisticated investors from across the country,” the suit alleged.

Some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment “have either invested in FTX or been brand ambassadors for the company” and hyped the exchange in ads and on social media, the document said.

David appeared in a television commercial during this year’s American football Super Bowl championship game, a coveted and costly promotional spot.

The exchange “needed celebrities... to continue funnelling investors into the FTX Ponzi scheme, and to promote and substantially assist in the sale” of the accounts, “which are unregistered securities”, the court documents said.

‘Regulatory gaps’

The turmoil at FTX, which until recently had been valued at US$32 billion (S$44 billion), came after Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency platform, backed out of a buyout deal amid reports about mismanagement of client funds and potential investigations by regulators.

“The recent failure of a major cryptocurrency exchange and the unfortunate impact that has resulted for holders and investors of crypto assets demonstrate the need for more effective oversight of cryptocurrency markets,” Dr Yellen said in a statement.

US agencies have highlighted the risks involved in the crypto industry, which could eventually spill over into the traditional financial system, and she called on Congress “to move quickly to fill the regulatory gaps the Biden administration has identified”.

Meanwhile, the House Financial Services Committee earlier on Wednesday announced it would hold a hearing next month to investigate the company’s collapse.

“The fall of FTX has posed tremendous harm to over one million users, many of whom were everyday people who invested their hard-earned savings into the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, only to watch it all disappear within a matter of seconds,” committee chair Maxine Waters said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, this event is just one out of many examples of cryptocurrency platforms that have collapsed just this past year.”

The lawsuit alleges that the company used money from new investors to “pay interest to the old ones and to attempt to maintain the appearance of liquidity”.

The collapse came amid rising doubts over the financial stability of FTX. Attention had focused on the relationship between the exchange and Alameda Research, a trading house also owned by Mr Bankman-Fried, and reports that he shifted funds out of the exchange, even as he tried to fill a US$7 billion gap.

It was a spectacular reversal of fortune for the founder and one-time cryptocurrency wunderkind.

The disgraced executive apologised on Twitter and resigned. But after the company filed for bankruptcy, it said it was the victim of “unauthorised transactions”. AFP

[Jamesc]

Cannot sue Larry David lah.

He says don't invest and he is never wrong about these things.

[Kyrios]

12 hours ago, inlinesix said:

Since Temasek uses Govt Reserve for investment, is this raiding of reserve?

😂

Write off 377million? I bet if the oppies lost 37.7k in the oppies ward, cries of negligence, fraud will reverberate thru parliament...but over here write off such a big amount..life goes on..move on..not even reported in the live tv news..

[Fcw75]

8 hours ago, Kyrios said:

Write off 377million? I bet if the oppies lost 37.7k in the oppies ward, cries of negligence, fraud will reverberate thru parliament...but over here write off such a big amount..life goes on..move on..not even reported in the live tv news..

Our CPF money gone down the drain.

Should deduct from those management level pay at Temasick. 

[t0y0ta]

1 hour ago, Fcw75 said:

Our CPF money gone down the drain.

Should deduct from those management level pay at Temasick. 

SCMP reported that

Temasick did a big investment in TSMC at peak of their stock price and exited when the stock price crashed.... their experts are really 🙌

 

https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/3199672/temasek-cuts-losses-tsmc-stake-buffett-makes-us41-billion-bet-top-chip-maker-will-come-good-sec

[Kb27]

2 minutes ago, t0y0ta said:

SCMP reported that

Temasick did a big investment in TSMC at peak of their stock price and exited when the stock price crashed.... their experts are really 🙌

 

https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/3199672/temasek-cuts-losses-tsmc-stake-buffett-makes-us41-billion-bet-top-chip-maker-will-come-good-sec

behind the scene: the experts have rows and rows of dice. Just throw a few and see where it lands. There ! buy it.

[Throttle2]

11 hours ago, Windwaver said:

Singaporeans are reportedly FTX International’s 2nd largest customer base at 5.26% of the total user base, after South Koreans (6.21%). As of February 2022, FTX had 1 million users.

for 99.99% it was plain greed leading to blind belief.
 

you know why i never f**king invest in any of these companies set up by these crypto “geniuses”

i dont bloody trust any of them one bit !   

[Inlinefour]

3 hours ago, Fcw75 said:

 

Should deduct from those management level pay at Temasick. 

salary is state secret liao 🤫🤫🤫

 

errr how to deduct from classified figure 🙉🙊🙈

[Windwaver]

13 hours ago, Throttle2 said:

for 99.99% it was plain greed leading to blind belief.
 

you know why i never f**king invest in any of these companies set up by these crypto “geniuses”

i dont bloody trust any of them one bit !   

Yeah, I was labelled as an 'old fashion' man when it came to investing quite some time back.

Now I just keep my mouth shut .

[Starry]

I am not sure how VCs do their DD on FTX, but as a layman, I would have taken my money elsewhere if I see a group of 30s and under 30s who have little working experience running a billion dollar company ...more so a 32b one whose business model is taking in customer investment funds.

Edited November 18, 2022 by Starry