Elon Musk Alleges Sam Fried Donated Over $1 Billion To Democrats, Layoffs Hit Crypto Industry

Elon Musk has alleged that Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, paid over $1 billion to the Democratic Party in donations.

Elon Musk said this in response to a query by a person on Twitter who said that Sam Bankman-Fried got off the hook by donating huge sums of money to political campaigns of the ruling party.

Bankman-Fried funnelled funds which were backing their platform’s native token FTT, to Alameda Research, the sister firm of the crypto exchange. FTX had to file for bankruptcy due to lack of funds, as the funds were used for trading.

Layoffs Hit Crypto Industry

The crypto winter began last November when Bitcoin began to slump, and since then, the industry has been hit with a lot of blows this year, including the fall of Stablecoins, and exchanges going bust.

Now, to add to the chaos, layoffs have hit the crypto industry, as well.

For the second time in 2022, Bybit has announced huge layoffs. Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO of Bybit, unveiled a reorganisation plan that includes a significant reduction in the company’s personnel.

The ‘planned downsizing’ will have a wide-ranging impact on employees.

Crypto Users Attack AAX’s Office After Withdrawal Halt

Nigerian users of the cryptocurrency exchange AAX invaded the business’ Lagos headquarters and assaulted its staff following a decision by AAX to stop processing withdrawals, according to a report by Legit, a Nigerian news outlet.

The Nigerian Blockchain Technology Association Stakeholders (SiBAN) condemned the attack on November 28, 2022 despite it being unclear when it occurred.

It advised irate users to be patient with the exchange’s employees, who were also affected by the withdrawal freeze.

SiBAN said in a note, “Therefore, we appeal to and discourage any dissatisfied or angry user or investor from harassing or victimising the AAX Country Manager (Nigeria), other local staff members, and AAX ambassadors nationwide.”

Alameda Invested $1.5 billion In Genesis Digital Assets

The largest investment made by FTX’s sister firm, Alameda Research—which is also at the heart of the exchange’s bankruptcy—was in the crypto mining firm Genesis Digital Assets.

According to a Bloomberg report, Genesis Digital received $1.15 billion from Alameda Research in less than nine months.

The financial injection occurred between August 2021 and April of this year, before the decline in the value of cryptocurrencies. Genesis Digital is the largest Bitcoin mining company in the United States.

Genesis Owes $900 million To Gemini’s Clients

Cryptocurrency lender Genesis and its parent firm, Digital Currency Group (DCG) owes $900 million to clients of Gemini, a crypto exchange owned by the Winklevoss twins, according to a report by Financial Times.

The sudden collapse of FTX, a bankrupt crypto exchange, in November 2022, is what caused the problem. In collaboration with Genesis, the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini runs a programme called Gemini Earn that allows investors to make 8 per cent interest by lending out their cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin and Stablecoins backed by fiat money.