SBF thought he still could save FTX International by arguing that its main team is in the Bahamas

Feature Image: HackerNoon’s Stable Diffusion AI, prompt “the bahamas”

FTX International’s Jurisdictions

To my knowledge, the serious problems that occurred as a result of the crash in early November all happened on FTX International. FTX US was not generally affected, and remains, to my knowledge, fully solvent.

There are currently multiple insolvency proceedings around the world–in Delaware, The Bahamas, Australia, and more. A few relevant facts, to my knowledge:

1. FTX International is a separate entity from FTX US; neither entity is a subsidiary of the other, nor are they subsidiaries of the same holding company.

2. FTX International does not accept US customers, is not based in the United States, did not maintain a significant US workforce, was not regulated in the United States, and was not operated out of a US entity.

   1. FTX International’s terms of service prohibited customers from the following locations from accessing the platform: United States of America, Cuba, Crimea and Sevastopol, Luhansk People's Republic, Donetsk People's Republic, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, and North Korea.

3. FTX International’s headquarters and primary office are in The Bahamas

4. FTX International had nearly 100 employees in The Bahamas, and did not, to my knowledge, maintain any employees primarily based in the United States outside of US legal counsel

5. FTX International is regulated in a large number of jurisdictions, including The Bahamas, Australia, Cyprus, Switzerland, the UAE, Japan, and others, but not the United States.

6. The primary operating entity of FTX International was FTX Digital Markets LTD (FDM), in The Bahamas.

7. The majority of the mind and management of FTX International worked for FDM in The Bahamas.

8. The primary regulator was the Securities Commission of The Bahamas, overseeing FDM.

9. I believe that the majority of users faced FDM, and the majority of assets were of users who faced FDM.

10. FDM is not part of any Chapter 11 process. FDM was placed under the oversight of Joint Provisional Liquidators (JPLs) by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas roughly a day prior to the initiation of the Chapter 11 process, and was not included in any Chapter 11 filings.

11. The JPLs have filed for recognition in Delaware court as the primary insolvency process.

12. I do not believe that Mr. Ray or any members of his team are the CEO or are on the Board of Directors of the primary operating entity of FTX International, and as such I do not believe that they have lawful jurisdiction over the preponderance of FTX International’s insolvency proceedings.