The US authorities are asking the investors and trading firms that worked closely with FTX to hand over information on the company and its key figures, including founder Sam Bankman-Fried and former head of his Alameda Research investment arm, Caroline Ellison.
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The US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York recently sent out a slew of requests asking recipients to hand over information on a list of FTX employees and associates, according to people familiar with the case.
The people said that the firms that are frequently traded on FTX may have had conversations with platform executives or hold other information that could help the criminal investigation. Such requests are often used to tap into potential sources of information held by witnesses, investors or customers without seeking grand jury subpoenas.
People familiar with the inquiries said that companies that invested in or traded on the platform received similar requests for information from the US Securities and Exchange Commission s enforcement division, which is running a parallel civil investigation into the exchange-operator's collapse.
The agency is looking to learn more about the relationships that the companies had with the former crypto giant, as well as communications with former top brass at FTX and Alameda, including Bankman-Fried and Ellison, the people said. The people said that the SEC is trying to get a better sense of what FTX representatives told investors and whether any misrepresentations were made that would violate securities laws.
The moves show authorities are casting a wide net as they begin their investigations into FTX collapse, examining what the company and its leaders told investors and customers as the exchange collapsed last month. The authorities haven't accused anyone of wrongdoing.
Representatives for the SEC and SDNY declined to make a statement. FTX and Sam Bankman- Fried didn't respond immediately to requests for comment.
A spokesman for Galaxy Digital Chief Executive Officer Mike Novogratz, who disclosed a $76.8 million exposure to FTX, said in a Bloomberg interview that authorities have been in touch with firms that have had relationships with FTX.
When asked if the Justice Department, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission or SEC were reaching out to FTX clients, the prominent investor said. He didn't elaborate.
He said that the regulators have some egg on their face. Sam was very far along in pitching to be the cashBitcoin market here in the US, both with the SEC and the CFTC. There are no global debt costs that are soaring.