FTX: Court says Sam Bankman-Fried ran FTX as a 'personal fiefdom'

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A US bankruptcy court heard that FTX was run as a personal fiefdom of Sam Bankman- Fried.

A lawyer leading the bankruptcy proceedings said that the former FTX boss did not have basic money control.

He said that FTX's finances were only now being understood.

Mr Bankman-Fried's team spent hundreds of millions of dollars on holiday homes for senior staff.

The situation was one of the most abrupt and difficult collapses in the history of corporate America.

FTX was a place where people could buy and sell cryptocurrencies. Many customers use their FTX digital wallet as a bank account.

A detailed history of FTX was given to the judge by the company.

Once details about the company's lack of financial stability were leaked online, it collapsed in just eight days.

The firm filed for protection from its debts after Mr Bankman- Fried resigned.

More than one million investors are owed money and may not get it back.

The highest proportion of users were found in the Virgin Islands, Great Britain and China, according to company records.

• 2 November: Documents leak online showing Alameda Research - a cryptocurrency hedge fund run by Sam Bankman-Fried was financially unstable and reliant on a coin which was by sister company FTX
• 6 November: Changpeng Zhao, boss of FTX rival Binance announces the firm is selling it's holdings in FTX-linked coins "due to recent revelations". The value of FTX crypto coins plummets and panicked customers rush to cash out
• 8 November: FTX suspends withdrawals
• 8 November: Changpeng Zhao announces that Binance is looking to buy FTX to "protect users"
• 9 November: Binance walks away from the sale, citing concerns about "mishandling of customer funds and alleged US agency investigations"
• 9 November: Sam Bankman-Fried attempts to gather emergency funding to plug the $8bn shortfall in finances
• 11 November: Sam Bankman-Fried resigns and files for chapter 11 bankruptcy

Lawyers for FTX say that at least some of the firm's assets have been stolen by hackers.

"We are under constant cyber- attack and we are trying to fight it," Mr. Bromley said.

The data of millions of customers is in FTX's possession.

One participant said that they lost their life savings in the FTX collapse.

There will be a hearing on 11 January.