• Advisers of the failed FTX cryptocurrency exchange are collaborating with FBI authorities to release customers’ information. 
• Legal authorities across the globe have continued to increase the number of information requests sent to cryptocurrency exchanges. 

Recently attained court records have revealed that the FBI is now working closely with FTX advisers. As Bloomberg recently reported, federal law enforcement offices across the United States have now gained access to customers’ information.

After collaborating closely with FTX advisers, customers’ accounts were shared with the authorities. This information includes, but is not limited to customer’s previous transactions carried out on the exchange platform. FTX advisers have agreed to comply with FBI authorities after receiving subpoenas from at least five FBI field offices.

As revealed by Alvarez & Marsal North America, which is currently serving as financial advisors to FTX,
the subpoena-related requests sent in by the FBI ordered the advisers to release some confidential customer data.

Billing records reveal that information about a select few customers was obtained. The advisers were asked to carry out tasks that included account investigation, customers’ trading history, and cloud-computing data.

Excerpts of the court filing detailing one of the tasks read;

…Investigate all transactions and customer accounts related to specific customer accounts regarding a new FBI Philadelphia subpoena request.

Similarly, other FBI offices in the country, particularly from Oakland, Minneapolis, and Portland also filed for subpoena-related requests. Before the recent development, the FBI also reached out to customers of the FTX collapse.

Coinbase reveals that information requests from legal authorities have skyrocketed

Law enforcement bodies have been on a mission to ensure the safety of cryptocurrency exchange users as market chaos continues to heighten. In previous years, other exchanges have reported that similar requests were made by legal authorities.

Back in 2021, leading U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, revealed that law enforcement bodies across the globe sent in 12,320 information requests to its firm, from October 2021 through September 2022. In the previous year, Coinbase reported figures that were 66 percent less than its last reported figures.

Speaking on the intensity of these requests, Paul Grewal, the Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase disclosed the steps the exchange intends to take going forward.

In a blog post published back in 2022, the Coinbase CLO stressed that the exchange will actively work towards narrowing requests that are overly broad or vague.

This will be done in hopes that the exchange can continue to provide a well-rounded and more appropriately tailored response going forward. In some cases. Grewal maintains that the exchange will object to producing any information at all, particularly if the request is legally insufficient.

We also aim to provide anonymized or aggregated data that aids law enforcement and government agencies with their work, where it is possible to do so, instead of providing individual customer information.