Another SBF Company Goes Under - Are You Affected? -

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Sam Bankman-Fried seems to be hit by another bankruptcy report, as his holding firm, Emergent Fidelity Company, files for bankruptcy. SBF and the former FTX executive Gary Wang co-founded the platform.

Sam Bankman Fried’s Emergent Fidelity Technologies, an offshore corporate entity that owns 55 million shares of Robinhood Markets, filed for bankruptcy https://t.co/AwbU79J8as

— Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) February 3, 2023

The Antigua and Barbuda-based firm filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. According to a Bloomberg report, the filing came amid a fight on who should get the stock after the FTX Group’s demise.

In November, the platform was already a target of a lawsuit filed by crypto lending company BlockFi. The Emergent Fidelity held roughly 55 million shares of Robinhood Markets. However, the Robinhood shares, valued above $590 million, became a subject of vital interest in various parties. These parties include BlockFi, Bankman himself, and FTX creditor Yonathan Ben Shimon.

Last month, the Department of Justice revealed that it had seized Robinhood shares worth $55 million as part of the case against the bankrupt FTX and its executives.

The roots of Emergent Fidelity Company Bankruptcy

Before the Justice Department seizure, Emergent Fidelity firm declared ownership of the shares and the $20 million brokerage company, Marex Capital Markets previously held. In the case, a declaration by one of the Joint Provisional Liquidators, Angela Barkhouse said the platform filed for Chapter 11 protection in the same court as FTX. The firm wants to trail a ‘form of joint administration’ linking the two bankruptcies.

Nonetheless, Barkhouse noted,” The Joint Provisional Liquidators’ duties are to the debtor’s creditors, whoever these creditors may be.” According to the proceedings in the US, various parties are alleging to be creditors or outright owners of Robinhood shares. However, the liquidators affirm that chapter 11 protection is the practical way for the debtor to defend itself, the assets, and the interests of its creditors. The Antigua court has appointed individuals responsible for winding up the bankrupt entity’s affairs.

Additionally, Barkhouse noted that SBF owns 90% of the platform. FTX co-founder Gary Wang owns the other 10% of Emergent Fidelity.

SBF versus the prosecutors

Meanwhile, the US prosecutors are going hard against SBF. The US attorneys asked the judge in New York to impose more demanding bail conditions on the ex-billionaire, SBF. The proposal to the US District Judge Lewis Kaplan erupted from the claims that SBF would try to manipulate the witnesses or tamper with the evidence. The prosecutors also asked SBF not to use any message encryption app, including Signal or other encrypted calls.

These came after prosecutors disclosed email and text messages from Bankman to the current FTX CEO, John Ray. The messages entailed compelling insights regarding FTX’s business operation. Notably, SBF’s filing from January 27 shows that he attempted to contact Miller, the FTX US general counsel, to sway his criminal testimony.

However, the former FTX CEO affirmed that he did not steal the funds. In a Substack blog post, SBF noted:

I didn’t steal funds and did not stash billions away. Nearly all my assets were and still are utilizable to backstop FTX users.

The former crypto mogul also addressed the Alameda collapse issues stating:

Alameda failed to hedge its market exposure sufficiently. Last year, multiple significant broad market crashes came, ‘in stocks and crypto’ leading to an 80% decrease in the market value of its assets.

Further, SBF claimed that he had a lot more to stipulate about the failure of Alameda, what happened to the giant exchange FTX, the Chapter 11 process, and many more. His statements came after pleading not guilty to fraud charges at the New York court. The charges vary from money laundering and wire fraud to campaign violations. However, SBF’s case will commence in October.

What happened to FTX?

FTX firm filed for bankruptcy protection in November after users rushed to remove $6 billion from the company in only 72 hours. Nonetheless, the giant company’s fate shattered after the rival exchange Binance deal fell through. According to the SEC and CTFC, they alleged that SBF masterminded the misappropriation of customer funds.