--- title: FTX’s wild start to the week, explained - The Hustle description: And it all started with some “Storybook Brawl.” image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1790528552-HS-News-Brief_2022-12-14T010919.228Z.webp --- # FTX’s wild start to the week, explained ![Jacob Cohen](https://thehustle.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_5670-1-modified-768x768.png?width=48&height=48&name=IMG_5670-1-modified-768x768.png) [Jacob Cohen](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/jacob-cohen) [Jacob Cohen Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/ImJacobCohen) Published: December 14, 2022 Updated: October 11, 2023 On Monday, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried [admitted](https://youtu.be/mHikzIr6Gq8?t=2220) to playing the game “Storybook Brawl” while he was being interviewed on a widely attended Twitter Space from his home in the Bahamas. ![FTX’s wild start to the week, explained](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1790528552-HS-News-Brief_2022-12-14T010919.228Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=1790528552-HS-News-Brief_2022-12-14T010919.228Z.webp) “I hope you’re not playing video games tomorrow when you’re trying to dissuade Congress from seeing you as a fraud,” one interviewer quipped. Bankman-Fried wouldn’t have to worry about that. Hours later, on Monday evening, he was arrested based on charges in a sealed indictment filed by the US Attorney’s office. #### **On Tuesday morning…** Prosecutors [unsealed](https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/13/business/sam-bankman-fried-charges/index.html) their indictment, which charges Bankman-Fried with eight counts of fraud and conspiracy. - Charges on the [14-page document](https://i.a.dj.com/pubedit/SBFINDICTMENT.pdf) span from money laundering, to misuse of customer deposits, to conspiracy to defraud the US, to campaign finance violations. As he awaits extradition to the US, Bankman-Fried — whose net worth peaked around [$26B](https://www.vox.com/the-goods/23451761/ftx-sam-bankman-fried-arrest-bankrupt-bitcoin-alameda) in March and has since been wiped out — could spend time in Fox Hill, the Bahamas’ notoriously [unsanitary](https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/313615_BAHAMAS-2021-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf) prison. #### **Oh, and what ended up happening in DC?** Back in Washington, it was made clear that despite the alleged fraud’s massive scale, its complexity wasn’t all that sophisticated. [At one point](https://twitter.com/BloombergTV/status/1602703565575028737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1602703565575028737%7Ctwgr%5E7ae6cffe37a8b64995684f04ac37526a11a12dc0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theverge.com%2F), newly appointed CEO John Ray, who previously worked through Enron’s infamous bankruptcy, explained to lawmakers that FTX leaders used Slack and QuickBooks to handle the company’s finances. “Nothing against QuickBooks — very nice tool — just not for a multibillion-dollar company,” he said. **On Tuesday evening,** Bankman-Fried was [denied bail](https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/12/13/ftx-founder-sam-bankman-fried-denied-bail-in-the-bahamas/). He’ll have an extradition hearing Feb. 8. Topics: [Cryptocurrency](https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/cryptocurrency) Topics: [Cryptocurrency](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/cryptocurrency) ## Follow us on social media prev next - ![How do we not know who Satoshi Nakamoto is?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/254575623-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-satoshi_20230705231801.webp) ### How do we not know who Satoshi Nakamoto is? - ![Thailand is betting on crypto to spur tourism](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1945728039-News-Brief_2021-12-01T021436.364Z-1024x802.webp) ### Thailand is betting on crypto to spur tourism - ![Wash trading and crypto, explained](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/396502987-HS-News-Brief_2023-02-14T013317.765Z.webp) ### Wash trading and crypto, explained - ![Digits: Jordan, Ferrari, and Yellen](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1558970479-HS-News-Brief_2022-09-18T225913.540Z.webp) ### Digits: Jordan, Ferrari, and Yellen - ![Digits: Jordan, Ferrari, and Yellen](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1558970479-HS-News-Brief_2022-09-18T225913.540Z.webp) ### Digits: Jordan, Ferrari, and Yellen - ![Why do people buy NFTs?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/2117651270-HS-News-Brief_2022-07-07T043926.149Z.webp) ### Why do people buy NFTs? - ![Digits: The CIA’s gym, anonymous donors, and more](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/2027526157-HS-News-Brief_2022-06-26T232529.058Z-1024x684.webp) ### Digits: The CIA’s gym, anonymous donors, and more - ![Coinbase is feeling the chill of crypto winter](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1991649465-HS-News-Brief_2022-06-09T003737.030Z.webp) ### Coinbase is feeling the chill of crypto winter - ![Digits: Harry Styles, Formula 1 inflation, and more](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1458778000-HS-News-Brief_2022-06-05T213424.088Z.webp) ### Digits: Harry Styles, Formula 1 inflation, and more - ![That Tom Brady NFT might not be real](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1065019501-HS-News-Brief_2022-06-02T231048.484Z.webp) ### That Tom Brady NFT might not be real Pop up for Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Get the 5-minute news brief keeping 2.5M+ innovators in the loop. 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Signup for a free account Close modal ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Jacob Cohen", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/jacob-cohen" }, "datePublished" : "2022-12-14T09:13:18.000Z", "headline" : "FTX’s wild start to the week, explained", "image" : [ "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1790528552-HS-News-Brief_2022-12-14T010919.228Z.webp" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/12142022-ftx", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject" } } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "#article", "@type" : "NewsArticle", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Jacob Cohen", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/jacob-cohen" }, "dateModified" : "2023-10-11T19:40:20+0000", "datePublished" : "2022-12-14T09:13:18+0000", "headline" : "FTX’s wild start to the week, explained", "image" : [ "https://7355427.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7355427/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1790528552-HS-News-Brief_2022-12-14T010919.228Z.webp" ], "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 112, "url" : "https://fs.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/Blog%202021/Images/Logos/HubSpot%20Logo%20112X112.svg", "width" : 112 }, "name" : "HubSpot", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.facebook.com/hubspot", "https://twitter.com/hubspot" ], "url" : "https://www.hubspot.com" }, "speakable" : { "@type" : "SpeakableSpecification", "xPath" : [ "//title", "/html/head/meta[@name='description']/@content" ] } } ```