Following the reports that said FTX wallets were being drained and the FTX Telegram channel’s admins that detailed its possible malware might be present in FTX-related apps and websites, the company’s new CEO John Ray confirmed there were “unauthorized transactions.” The news was shared by FTX US’s general counsel Ryne Miller and retweeted by FTX’s official Twitter account.
Unauthorized access to FTX funds confirmed
On Saturday morning (ET) on November 12, 2022 reports showed that FTX wallets were being emptied. The breach was confirmed when people started talking about the onchain activity on social media on FTX’s now-defunct Telegram channel. An admin known as “Ray” explained that FTX had been hacked, adding:
FTX apps are malware. Delete them. Chat is open. Don’t go on FTX site as it might download Trojans.
Raine Miller, general manager of FTX US, also mentioned that the team was “investigating anomalies related to the wallet [the] Consolidation of FTX balances across exchanges. Then after myriad reports and subsequent speculation concerning the breach, Miller shared an update from his iPhone at 1:17 p.m. (ET).
“Statement from John Ray, chief restructuring officer and CEO of [FTX] — Consistent with their obligations as Chapter 11 Debtors-in-Possession, FTX US and FTX [dot] com continue to make every effort to secure all assets, wherever located,” Miller tweeted. “Among other things, we are in the process of removing trading and withdrawal functionality and moving as many digital assets as can be identified to a new cold wallet custodian. As widely reported, unauthorized access to certain assets has occurred,” the FTX US general counsel said.
Added message from FTX Americas Executive on behalf of FTX CEO John Ray:
In response an active fact review and mitigation exercise was immediately initiated. We are in touch and coordinating with law enforcement and relevant regulators.
The news follows FTX filing for bankruptcy, the day prior on Nov. 11, 2022. Additionally, amid the unauthorized transactions and the team moving the funds to new cold wallets, there was speculation surrounding Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) private jet flying from the Bahamas to Argentina. Despite Flightradar24’s flight tracking report, SBF told Reuters by text that he was still in the Bahamas and did not go to Argentina.
