Sam Bankman-Fried Denies Being Part Of “Wirefraud” Chat Group

Sam Bankman-Fried has denied being part of a secret group titled “Wirefraud” just hours before his arrest by the Bahamian authorities. 

The secret Signal group allegedly involved other former FTX and Alameda Research Executives, including Caroline Ellison. 

Secretive Signal Group 

According to the Australian Financial Review, members of the FTX and Alameda Research inner circle were part of a secret group chat called “Wirefraud” on the messaging app Signal. The news broke just a day prior to a scheduled United States Congressional hearing on the FTX debacle. 

The report added that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, Zixiao “Gary” Wang, Nishad Singh, and CEO of Alameda Research, Caroline Ellison, were all part of the group chat. Additionally, the report states that the group chose Signal so that the information and contents of the group would remain hidden. 

“JUST IN: Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX’s inner circle reportedly had a secret group chat on Signal named ‘Wirefraud.’”

FTX Rabbithole Gets Deeper 

The group chat is another in a series of revelations about FTX and how Sam Bankman-Fried and his associates ran it. The collapse and subsequent scandal has been among the biggest scandals to hit the crypto space. Additionally, the misuse of customer funds has opened another pandora’s box, making the revelation of a secret group chat more interesting to authorities and market watchers alike. 

On the other hand, SBF maintains his innocence, stating that any failure should be attributed to competence and not malice. However, many have continued to call this narrative into question, implying SBF knew what he was doing, with the discovery of the Signal group further proof of intentions. 

FTX still holds millions in unaccounted customer assets, and with Congressional hearings slated to begin during the week, Sam Bankman-Fried is set to appear before the US House Financial Services Committee today. Another congressional hearing is already scheduled to investigate the fTX collapse in more detail. 

SBF Denies Involvement In Secret Group 

Just hours before his arrest by the Bahamian authorities, embattled FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried took to Twitter to deny his knowledge and involvement with the Signal group chat “Wirefraud.” The group allegedly involves former FTX and Alameda management and officials, including Zixiao “Gary” Wang, Nishad Singh, and Caroline Ellison. According to the report, the group sent information about FTX and Alameda Research’s operations in the lead-up to their collapse.

However, Bankman-Fried flatly denied knowledge of any such group, stating that he had never heard of such a group and was quite sure the reports were false. 

“If this is true, then I wasn’t a member of that inner circle (I’m quite sure it’s just false; I have never heard of such a group).”

Will Bankman-Fried Appear Before Congress?

Until recently, Bankman-Fried was expected to appear remotely before a United States House Committee Hearing to explain the collapse of FTX. However, he was taken into custody by the Bahamian authorities and is likely to be extradited to the United States of America. Following the arrest, Committee Chair Maxine Waters confirmed that the committee would not be able to hear SBF’s testimony due to the arrest. 

Bankman-Fried was also requested to appear at a December 14th hearing with the Senate Committee on Banking. However, he never confirmed if he would attend, and his lawyers refused to accept a subpoena compelling him to testify. Meanwhile, in his testimony, the chief restructuring officer and FTX CEO, John Ray, stated that FTX customer assets were intermingled with those of Alameda Research. 

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.