U.S. probes how $370 million vanished in hack after FTX bankruptcy

According to a source familiar with the investigation, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday that federal authorities are looking into an alleged cybercrime that allegedly siphoned out more than $370 million from cryptocurrency exchange FTX hours after it filed for bankruptcy.

The Department of Justice's criminal investigation into the stolen property is unrelated to the fraud case against FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, the report said.

The Manhattan U.S. attorney's office representative declined to confirm or comment on the matter, while FTX and the DoJ did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Reuters.

Bankman-Fried left his position as CEO and FTX filed for bankruptcy in the United States last month after traders withdrew billions from the platform in just three days and a competing exchange, Binance, abandoned a rescue plan.

The US Department of Justice charged Bankman-Fried with orchestrating a "fraud of epic dimensions" that cost FTX billions of dollars, according to a US prosecutor.

Bankman-Fried established FTX in 2019 and profited on a surge in the value of bitcoin and other digital assets to become a multi-billionaire and a significant contributor to American political campaigns.

Fears over the future of the cryptocurrency sector have increased as a result of the FTX collapse after the troubled exchange declared a "serious liquidity issue.