Between $1 billion and $2 billion of FTX customer funds have disappeared, SBF had a secret ‘back door’ to transfer billions: Report. Reuters reports that at least $1 billion worth of customer funds have vanished from the failed crypto exchange.

Two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that ex-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried transferred $10 billion of customer funds from FTX 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, ”???”