FTX used more than $1 billion in customer funds to buy back shares from Binance

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) hired University of Notre Dame accounting professor Peter Easton to track billions of dollars in funds between Alameda and FTX. The professor said during testimony at the SBF trial hearing that FTX used customer funds to buy back in 2022. More than $1 billion of the company’s entire stake in Binance comes from FTX’s client funds. Easton testified that user deposits were also reinvested in businesses and real estate, used for political contributions and donated to charities. Previously, in 2019, Binance invested an undisclosed amount in FTX as part of a strategic partnership between the two companies. Binance CEO CZ said in a 2022 article that the company had received more than $2.1 billion in BUSD and FTX’s FTT tokens as part of the buyback. (CoinDesk) According to previous news, in response to regulatory scrutiny, SBF will repurchase FTX shares held by CZ for US$2.275 billion in 2021.