FTX’s new management is seeking to return millions of dollars in donations made by the crypto exchange and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, the Wall Street Journal reported.
By the end of September, FTX’s charitable arm, the Future Fund, had committed more than $160 million to more than 110 non-profit organizations, including biotech startups and university researchers developing Covid-19 vaccines and working on pandemic studies, as well as non-profit organizations in India, China and Brazil .
According to the report, the Future Fund gave $3.6 million to AVECRIS, a company working on a genetic vaccine platform, and another $5 million was donated to the Atlas Fellowship for scholarships and high school summer programs in San Francisco.
A spokeswoman for Bankman-Fried said the charitable donation was not made from customer deposits, but from trading profits.
The charity arm announced in February 2022 plans to distribute more than $100 million in the first year and receive donations of up to $1 billion.
1/ We are pleased to announce the Future FTX Foundation Fund. We make grants and investments for ambitious projects to improve humanity’s long-term prospects.
We plan to distribute >$100M this year, and possibly more (up to $1B in principle).https://t.co/kIWdm48LZ4
– Future Fund (@ftxfuturefund) February 28, 2022
Despite the drop in crypto prices, donations remain. On September 23, the Twitter profile of the Future Fund announced a “substantial fraction” of the capital that will be distributed in research and initiatives working on risk management for artificial general intelligence (AGI), with a prize of up to $ 1.5 million, as well as thousands of dollars. reward for those who are “the best critics of our views” about the future of artificial intelligence.
Related: Companies and investors may have to return billions in funds paid by FTX
We made a big bet – a fraction of our capital – on AGI xrisk. But we think we were wrong!
Today we are announcing a prize of $15k-$1.5M to change minds (or superforecasters) in AGI. Enter on December 23rd!https://t.co/ZBG0nFnW8E pic.twitter.com/Xd6M645h3s
– Future Fund (@ftxfuturefund) September 23, 2022
FTX’s donations to political parties and candidates are also being investigated by United States prosecutors. Bankman-Fried is the second largest “CEO contributor” to Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, with a donation of $5.2 million.
Clawback provisions could force businesses and investors to return billions of dollars paid in the months before the collapse of crypto exchanges, Cointelegraph reported. FTX’s new management said that “several recipients of donations or other payments” have approached the company to raise funds.
On January 4, Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to all criminal charges he faces in connection with the collapse of the crypto exchange, including wire fraud, securities fraud, and campaign finance violations. Since December 22, he has been under house arrest at his parents’ home in California.