Reading 2 minutes Views 4 Published Updated
Former FTX executives have allegedly spent millions funding niche projects completely unrelated to cryptocurrencies or Web3, including the uniquely named “Pineapple House” worth $1.8 million.
A June 26 report by FTX restructuring executive and CEO John Ray outlined ways in which allegedly misappropriated client funds are being used.
According to the report, this included “charitable” donations made by exchange co-founder Sam Bankman-Freed and other former executives of the nonprofit FTX Foundation.
The FTX Foundation “grants” of $700,000 were reported in detail, of which $400,000 was given to “an organization that hosted animated videos on YouTube related to “rationalist and [эффективными альтруистическими] materials,” the report says.
Another $300,000 grant was given to a person to “[writeabookonhowtofigureoutwhataperson’sutilityfunctionis”[написатькнигуотомкаквыяснитьчтопредставляетсобойфункцияполезностичеловека»
Ray alleged that these “grants” used FTX client funds mixed in various bank accounts controlled by FTX, Alameda Research, and various other entities.
The report also lists a $1.8 million property called “Pineapple House” among FTX’s $243 million Bahamas real estate portfolio that was allegedly purchased with client funds.
damn, the real estate industry has been friendly to mr. squarepants pic.twitter.com/uqwGw4wGNz
— Molly White (@molly0xFFF) June 27, 2023
International broker Sotheby’s lists a similarly named property located in the Bahamas, although it is not known if this is the same Pineapple House listed in the report.
Related: Tokenized FTX claim used as collateral for loan
Another use of the alleged mixed client funds detailed by Ray included approximately $20 million sent to the non-profit organization Guarding Against Pandemics, Inc and “associated entities”.
As the name suggests, Guarding Against Pandemics advocates for investments to prevent pandemics such as COVID-19, as outlined on its website.
Ray said he worked “closely” with the PAC Pandemic Defense Policy Committee of the same name, which is led by Gabe Bankman-Freed, Sam Bankman-Freed’s younger brother.