Federal prosecutors are looking to freeze a Binance account.
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried allegedly used this account to launder funds.
The account was also used to bribe Chinese officials after $1 billion in Alameda funds were frozen in 2021.
Meanwhile, Apple Studios and A24 plan to release a new Bankman-Fried Movie.
Other studios are reportedly working on their versions of the story’s aspects.
The Bankman-Fried and FTX saga is far from over, even years after.
In a recent development this week, U.S. prosecutors are moving to seize more crypto assets tied to the ex-CEO of FTX.
Where did these assets come from?
The prosecutors allege that these funds were used to bribe Chinese officials in an attempt to unfreeze Alameda’s accounts.
The new case adds another layer to the already complex case of the FTX founder—who is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for multiple counts of fraud.
The lawsuit, filed on 12 November, contains “evidence” that prosecutors claim Bankman-Fried used a Binance account to funnel bribe payments.
The account was worth approximately $18.5 million at the time of the filing and was allegedly used as a channel for money laundering in the bribery scheme.
The initial value of these assets was about $8.6 million in December 2023. However, considering how well crypto has performed lately, it has since grown.
The filling
According to the lawsuit, Chinese authorities froze two Alameda Research accounts on Chinese exchanges in 2021.
These accounts held roughly $1 billion in crypto.
Prosecutors claim that Bankman-Fried authorized a bribe of $40 million in USDT to a private wallet on 16 November 2021.
Soon after the payment, the frozen accounts were reportedly unfrozen, and Alameda was allowed access once again.
They claim that additional bribes were also paid after the successful unfreezing to maintain access to the assets.
Prosecutors say the Binance account in question was linked to five deposit wallets, which were used in the laundering process.
These wallets received regular Bitcoin and stablecoin deposits, which were then converted to various other cryptocurrencies.
The interesting part about this scheme is that these transactions occurred almost every day—a pattern that prosecutors argue was a deliberate attempt to hide the source of the funds.
$1 billion frozen, $150 million to unfreeze
Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, testified that the total bribe amount was approximately $150 million.
Ellison shed extensive light on how the bribe funds were allegedly managed, which is one reason Bankman-Fried is currently serving his 25-year sentence.
Bankman-Fried’s legal troubles started to escalate after the collapse of FTX In late 2022.
Earlier in March 2024, Judge Lewis Kaplan convicted him on seven felony counts related to fraud and sentenced him to 25 years behind bars.
This is even though he faced six additional charges related to bank fraud and foreign bribery conspiracy, which were later dropped.
The Binance account in question was seized in December 2023 under Judge Kaplan’s orders.
As of writing, it still holds several cryptocurrencies, including Solana, Cardano, Internet Computer, and Avalanche.
Bankman-Fried is coming back—this time, to the big screen.
The former FTX mogul’s rise and fall have captured Hollywood's attention, and according to a recent report from Variety, Apple Studios and A24 are developing a feature film about him.
This movie will be based on Michael Lewis's book, “Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon."
The book, which was released in October 2023, is based on Bankman-Fried's life, the meteoric rise of FTX, and the scandal that led to his downfall.
Interestingly, the choice to adapt Lewis’s book has drawn some criticism.
Critics have argued that Lewis downplayed the severity of Bankman-Fried’s actions on investors.
Recall that many account holders lost access to billions of dollars after FTX’s collapse.
Still, the movie adaptation has been set in motion and will reportedly be scripted by Lena Dunham.
Apple Studios and A24 are not the only production companies interested in telling the FTX story.
Other companies are reportedly developing their own takes, with a focus on various aspects of Bankman-Fried’s career—including the events surrounding FTX’s collapse. One planned film, which is reportedly being developed by Fortune and Unrealistic Ideas, is rumored to explore the rocky relationship between Bankman-Fried and Binance’s Changpeng Zhao.
Although Zhao has been released from prison after four months behind bars, his legal battles have sparked serious discussion about the crypto industry’s main challenges.
Overall, some of the biggest names in the ongoing FTX saga include Caroline Ellison and Ryan Salame, former co-CEOs at Alameda and FTX, respectively.
Nishad Singh, the former engineering director at FTX, is currently free after pleading guilty and cooperating in Bankman-Fried’s trial.
Meanwhile, Gary Wang (another co-founder of FTX) is awaiting sentencing a few days from now, on 20 November.
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