FTX’s Bahamas Headquarters Was the First Clue
Bankman-Fried is just the latest in a long string of notorious characters who moved their business to the island nation, from the pirate Blackbeard to organized crime figures and assorted “financial wizards.”
When you call the Bahamas home.
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In retrospect, Sam Bankman-Fried and his cryptocurrency gang gave investors ample reason to steer clear of FTX: misleading claims that investments were covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., too-cozy-for-comfort relations with government regulators and other problematic behavior.
But the biggest red flag may have been the first: the crypto exchange’s relocation to the Bahamas. For centuries, the island nation has been defined by its close ties to dodgy, even criminal finance. Far from being an anomaly, FTX was simply the latest in a long line of sketchy enterprises.