FTX token hits all-time low after Sam Bankman-Fried extradition

The token of the now defunct FTX exchange hit its worst price level between Wednesday, December 21 and Thursday, December 22. This comes as the extradition of founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried from the Bahamas to the US progresses.

The token (FTT) fell about 10 percent between the two days, where it hit a low of $0.83 per unit. At the time of writing, FTT is trading around $0.84, according to data from Coingecko.

It hit $0.85 on Dec. 10, as expectations mounted for the future of the exchange’s executives, who have been accused of fraud in handling client funds and the subsequent bankruptcy of FTX.

Between Wednesday night and early this morning, Bankman was extradited to the United States. He is expected to appear before a judge there. The former CEO of what was once the second largest crypto-currency platform in terms of trading volume had been arrested a few days earlier in the Bahamas, where he was residing.

Earlier on Thursday, it was revealed that Gary Wang, co-founder of FTX, and Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research (the trading arm of FTX and part of the scheme that led to the bankruptcy of both companies) pleaded guilty to fraud. Both former executives are cooperating with U.S. authorities in the investigation.

The FTT debacle is incredible. Not only because of its percentage drop, as it lost 90% of its stock price within hours of the stock market problems becoming known. At that point it was above $22 and fell to $3.

The collapse is also impressive because this was the very token that Sam Bankman-Fried and his company used to secure their loans, making it impossible for them to meet their obligations to customers and users of the exchange.