The Wall Street Journal reports that the collapse of FTX has shaken the Bahamas, an island nation that had made cryptocurrency entrepreneurs feel welcome with its “copacetic regulatory touch.” Since tourism and offshore banking contribute so much to the country’s GDP, the Bahamas has been striving to find strategies to enhance its economy.
Many people lost their jobs on the 80 square mile island when FTX suddenly collapsed. During peak operations, FTX was able to employ many people from the region. According to the WSJ, FTX has also hired many Bahamians to work in logistics, event planning, and regulatory compliance.
Bahamian security guards now have to watch “nearly vacant buildings” after many high-spending foreigners who worked for FTX and bolstered the local economy left the island once the company went bankrupt.
Crypto Community Not Happy With The Bahamas Regulators
On October 18, the securities regulator in the Bahamas was reported to have mandated the transfer of FTX’s digital assets to a commission-owned wallet “for safekeeping.” After FTX went down, some people in the crypto community criticised the Bahamian lack of regulations and said that they don’t care about how the fall affects the small island country.
Hacker News user Matkoniecz said:
“Given that Bahamas help rich people and companies to evade taxes, my sympathy to negative consequences of that are limited.”
Additionally, Exendroinient00 stated:
“Nothing wrong with inviting every scammer to do scamming on your islands.”
Notably, Financial investigators and Bahamian securities authorities are looking into probable criminal behaviour regarding the insolvency of FTX, according to a statement from the Royal Bahamas Police Force issued to Reuters on November 13. In addition, Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, is reportedly under consideration for extradition back to the United States. It was found during investigations that Sam Bankman Fried’s parents and the company’s top executives had spent about $121 million on at least 19 residences over the course of the last two years.
🔥JOIN THECONRISE.COM'S MONTHLY $1000 GIVEAWAY AND FEEL VALUED AS A READER! DON'T MISS OUT! 🔥
