Interviews detail FTX and SBF's lavish spending, aided by minimal internal controls, including $300M+ on Bahamas real estate and chartering Amazon deliveries
When crypto exchange FTX moved its headquarters to the Bahamas from Hong Kong last year, employees discovered that Amazon did not deliver to the island.
That matters because the reported spending sat alongside a headquarters move that imposed basic logistical costs on employees, while governance complaints had already driven early Alameda staff departures.
First-order effects
FTX and SBF's reported real-estate and delivery spending becomes further evidence that minimal controls governed company expenditures, putting the companies' internal decision-making at the center of the collapse narrative.
FTX employees in the Bahamas absorbed the practical consequences of the headquarters move, including workarounds for Amazon deliveries that the company reportedly chartered transportation to handle.
Second-order effects
The new detail strengthens the case for FTX's new management and creditors to scrutinize spending on property, services, and personnel alongside the company's broad creditor list.
Bahamian officials and FTX's new management were already disputing control of assets; accounts of extensive local spending add context to that asset-control conflict.
Third-order effects
Taken together with reports of nepotism, conflicts, and risky decision-making, FTX illustrates how crypto firms without durable internal controls can turn rapid growth into concentrated, lightly checked spending authority.
The pattern reinforces the crypto legitimacy gap: institutional credibility increasingly depends on governance and custody practices, not just market scale or brand visibility.
The trend: FTX is a prominent case of the crypto legitimacy gap, in which weak governance and blurred company-personal boundaries undermine confidence in fast-growing platforms.
A minor point, among the chaos, but illustrative to US readers: “Staff at FTX US, its separate arm for the American market, were allowed $200 a day in DoorDash food delivery credits.” $200/day?! What were they delivering, drugs? https://www.ft.com/...
“FTX also provided Bahamas staff with a ‘full suite of cars and gas covered for all employees [and] unlimited, full expense covered trips to any office globally,’ the employee added. Staff at FTX US were allowed $200 a day in DoorDash food delivery credits.”
Lavish spending is standard in ALL crypto projects. 97% of 20k ICOs were a scam &/or went bust. Billions raised was mostly used to buy villas, boats & planes in the Caribbean/Florida & pay for $500k champagne parties in Miami strip clubs, “massages” & evade taxes in PR/Caribbean …
a private plane for Amazon deliveries, bi-weekly massages, a $55k bar bill and a boat called “Soak my Decks”. @nikasgari and @joshckoliver on the madness of the court of SBF https://www.ft.com/...
😳but also😏 Bankruptcy filings describe a haphazard expenses system. “Employees of FTX Group submitted payment requests through an online ‘chat’ platform where a group of supervisors approved disbursements by responding with personalised emojis.' https://www.ft.com/...
FTX executives chartered private planes to fly their Amazon deliveries from Miami to the Bahamas - new from @nikasgari and Josh Oliver https://www.ft.com/... https://twitter.com/...
This detail about Alameda's $55k bar tab at Margaritaville Beach Resort in Nassau...!! 🤌 “A 'Who's To Blame' margarita at one of the resort's bars costs $13.” @nikasgari @joshckoliver https://www.ft.com/...
“Kids leading kids” Inside the lavish spending at FTX - featuring private planes to deliver Amazon parcels, in-house massages, DoorDash credits, million dollar properties and more @FinancialTimes story with @joshckoliver https://giftarticle.ft.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Many things the world can learn from the downfall of FTX, and SBF. One takeaway is that their expenses system was undeniably awesome, and should be implemented everywhere. (This whole piece is wild. Alameda owes 55 grand to Margaritaville, Nassau.) https://www.ft.com/...) https:/…
SBF: “Behind the grand promises was an environment where employees' every need was catered for, and where a circle of senior executives in their late twenties and early thirties splashed millions of dollars on everything from travel to sport sponsorship deals and luxury homes” ht…