Sam Bankman-Fried has been arrested in The Bahamas, whilst separately arrests have been made in China, with 63 people held accused of laundering up to 12 billion Chinese Yuan ($1.7 billion) through cryptocurrency. Today’s focus for crypto markets is on the release of the US Consumer Price Index data.
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SBF Arrested in Bahamas
The founder of FTX, the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange, Sam Bankman-Fried, known as SBF, has been arrested in The Bahamas, according to the Attorney General in The Bahamas.
Bankman-Fried, 30, is slated to appear in a magistrates' court in Nassau, the Caribbean country's capital, today, on Tuesday.
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According to police in The Bahamas, SBF was arrested for “financial offences” against laws in The Bahamas and the US. The Attorney General of the Bahamas said in a statement that Bankman-Fried will be held in custody “pursuant of our nation's Extradition Act.”
In a tweet, US Attorney's office in Manhattan said, “Earlier this evening, Bahamian authorities arrested Samuel Bankman-Fried at the request of the US Government, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY [Southern District of New York]. We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time.”
This comes in the wake of the collapse of FTX, which filed for bankruptcy in the US in November, and has left thousands of clients of FTX unable to withdraw their funds.
China Crypto Laundering Arrests
63 people have been arrested by Chinese police accused of laundering up to 12 billion Chinese Yuan ($1.7 billion) via cryptocurrency. This move comes amidst Beijing’s strong crackdown on the trading of digital assets and coins. It is alleged that the criminal gang used proceeds from various illegal sources, which include, fraud pyramid schemes and gambling, then converted these proceeds into cryptocurrency, Tether, which is a stablecoin pegged to the US Dollar.
Crypto Focus Today: CPI
The big focus for cryptocurrency markets today and for broader financial market assets is the release at 08.30CET of the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data. This inflation data from the world’s largest economy has been the key global data release in the current 2022 climate of surging inflationary pressures. The past two releases of this data in October and November have been met with significant market volatility and on these occasions saw riskier assets, including cryptocurrency markets rally to higher prices. We watch with anticipation!
Moreover, this week continues to offer further potential for significant market movements, with the US Federal Reserve deciding on the next step in their interest rate policy to tackle inflation on Wednesday, whilst we get similar decision from the Bank of England and European Central Bank on Thursday. The week finishes we another round of notable data, as S&P Global release global flash data for their Purchasing Managers Index (PMI).
YOUR CAPITAL IS AT RISK. 76% OF RETAIL CFD ACCOUNTS LOSE MONEY.