Between $1 billion and $2 billion of FTX customer funds have disappeared, SBF had a secret ‘back door’ to transfer billions: Report
Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder and chief executive officer of FTX, in Hong Kong, China, on Tuesday, May 11, 2021.
Lam Yik | Bloomberg | Getty Images
As Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX enters bankruptcy protection, Reuters reports that between $1 billion to $2 billion of customer funds have vanished from the failed crypto exchange.
Both Reuters and The Wall Street Journal found that Bankman-Fried, now the ex-CEO of FTX, transferred $10 billion of customer funds from his crypto exchange to the digital asset trading house, Alameda Research.
Alameda, also founded by Bankman-Fried, was considered to be a sister company to FTX. Those cozy ties are now under investigation by multiple regulators, including the Department of Justice, as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is probing how FTX handled customer funds, according to multiple reports.
Much of the $10 billion sent to Alameda “has since disappeared,” according to two people speaking with Reuters.
Reuters disclosed that both sources “held senior FTX positions until this week” and added that “they were briefed on the company’s finances by top staff.”
One source estimated the gap to be $1.7 billion. The other put it at something in the range of $1 billion to $2 billion.
It appears that Reuters reached Bankman-Fried by text message. The former FTX chief wrote that he “disagreed with the characterization” of the $10 billion transfer, adding that, “We didn’t secretly transfer.”
“We had confusing internal labeling and misread it,” the text message read, and when asked specifically about the funds that are allegedly missing, Bankman-Fried wrote, “???”
Emergency meeting in the Bahamas
Last Sunday, Bankman-Fried convened a meeting with executives in Nassau to look at FTX’s books and figure out just how much cash the company needed to cover the hole in its balance sheet. (Bankman-Fried confirmed to Reuters that the meeting happened.)
It had been a rough few days of trade for FTX after Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeted that his company was selling the last of its FTT tokens, the native currency of FTX. That followed an article on CoinDesk, pointing out that Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund, held an outsized amount of FTT on its balance sheet.
Not only did Zhao’s public pronouncement cause a plunge in the price of FTT, it led FTX customers to hit the exits. Bankman-Fried said in a tweet that FTX clients on Sunday demanded roughly $5 billion of withdrawals, which he called “the largest by a huge margin.” That was the day of SBF’s emergency meeting in the Bahamian capital.
The heads of FTX’s regulatory and legal teams were reportedly in the room, as Bankman-Fried revealed multiple spreadsheets detailing how much cash FTX had loaned to Alameda and for what purpose, according to Reuters.
Those documents, which apparently reflected the most recent financial state of the company, showed a $10 billion transfer of customer deposits from FTX to Alameda. They also revealed that some of these funds — somewhere in the range of $1 billion to $2 billion — could not be accounted for among Alameda’s assets.
The financial discovery process also unearthed a “back door” in FTX’s books that was created with “bespoke software.”
The two sources speaking to Reuters described it as a way that ex-CEO Bankman-Fried could make changes to the company’s financial record without flagging the transaction either internally or externally. That mechanism theoretically could have, for example, prevented the $10 billion transfer to Alameda from being flagged to either his internal compliance team or to external auditors.
Reuters says that Bankman-Fried issued an outright denial of implementing a so-called back door.
Both FTX and Alameda Research did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
On today’s incredibly frustrating episode of Quick Charge, Tesla is making it easier than ever to make fun of them by rolling out a new, “affordable” Model Y that costs $2,000 more than the “expensive” one did last week, thanks to the cancellation of the $7,500 tax credit that Elon Musk (the guy who is so good at business that he’s allegedly worth $1 trillion) spent $200 million campaigning for.
We’ve also got the new, single-motor Volvo EX30 at a price that undercuts the cheap Tesla, but includes a full length glass roof that isn’t inexplicably covered in upholstery to punish poor people. All this and more – enjoy!
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If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
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Chevy’s electric SUV is now the best-selling EV in the US outside of Tesla. The 2026 Chevy Equinox EV is slightly more expensive than the outgoing model, but GM has added new style packages for you to choose from.
GM raises 2026 Chevy Equinox EV price, adds options
The Chevy Equinox EV doesn’t need much help. Starting at just $34,995, the 2025 Chevy Equinox quickly became one of the best-selling electric vehicles in the US.
Entering its third year, the Equinox EV remains GM’s most affordable EV, with starting prices slightly higher at $36,495. That includes the $1,395 destination fee.
Since it’s a carryover model, there aren’t too many changes, but buyers will have several new style packages to choose from.
The 2026 Chevy Equinox LT gains a new Midnight Package, which adds black emblems, bowtie, badging, wheel caps, and 19″ black painted aluminum wheels, for $595.
There’s also a new Tech Bronze Package available on the LT and RS trims. The new option includes a Tech Bronze decal, a black nameplate, a black bowtie emblem, and 21″ Tech Bronze wheels. It costs an extra $3,595.
The 2026 Chevy Equinox EV is now listed on GM’s website. It’s still available in LT1, LT2, and RS trims with Front Wheel Drive (FWD) and All Wheel Drive (AWD) powertrain options.
The base 2026 LT FWD trim starts at $36,495 with up to 319 miles of range, including a $1,395 destination fee. Upgrading to AWD costs an extra $5,300, with a slightly shorter range of 307 miles.
| Chevy Equinox EV trim | 2025 Starting Price | 2026 Starting Price | EPA-estimated Range |
| LT 1 FWD | $34,995 | $36,495 | 319 miles |
| LT 1 AWD | $38,295 | $39,795 | 307 miles |
| LT 2 FWD | $43,295 | $43,295 | 319 miles |
| LT 2 AWD | $46,595 | $46,595 | 307 miles |
| RS FWD | $44,795 | $45,595 | 319 miles |
| RS AWD | $48,095 | $48,895 | 307 miles |
Following another record quarter of EV sales in Q3, GM said that the Chevy Equinox EV was the best-selling non-Tesla electric vehicle in the US.
With several new affordable EVs arriving, including the new Nissan LEAF, will the Equinox continue to be a top seller in 2026? It will be interesting to see where the rankings end up at this time next year.
Wondering if Chevy’s electric SUV lives up to the hype? You can use our link to find 2025 and 2026 Chevy Equinox EV models near you and try it out for yourself.
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A surge in EV charging cable thefts is putting the reliability of the UK’s charging network at risk and undermining trust among drivers. InstaVolt is the UK’s largest network of fast chargers, and over the past two years, nearly 1,000 of its charging stations (it has over 2,100, so nearly 50%) have been targeted by cable thieves. But now InstaVolt is fighting back with GPS tracking.
Bafflingly, the incentive for thieves is low-value scrap: There’s only about £25 ($33) worth of copper inside a charging cable. But the damage is costly – around £1,000 ($1,342) per site for repairs.
In April, InstaVolt CEO Delvin Lane told the BBC that the thefts had cost his company about £410,000 ($550,150) since November 2023. Lane said, “This isn’t just an InstaVolt problem; this is an industry problem. The biggest impact is on drivers.”
InstaVolt has reinforced its cables with Kevlar sheaths, making them harder to cut. It has also rolled out live GPS tracking across its network on its charging cables in partnership with GPS supplier Trackit247. The technology provides location updates every three seconds, allowing the company to detect, trace, and recover stolen cables in real time.
Each charging cable is geo-fenced to its charger, so an alert is immediately triggered if it moves outside the designated area. InstaVolt’s 24/7 security center receives instant notifications by text, email, and phone, and it can coordinate directly with the police.
The system’s biggest advantage is live tracking in transit. If a thief drives off with a charging cable, police can follow its exact route and move in fast, increasing the chance of recovery and arrest. Instavolt’s GPS technology marks a major step forward in protecting critical EV infrastructure, deterring theft, and enabling quick response when it happens.
Read more: Meet the UK’s largest solar + storage EV charging ‘Superhub’
The 30% federal solar tax credit is ending this year. If you’ve ever considered going solar, now’s the time to act. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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