Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange FTX is now headquartered in the Bahamas.
The crypto trading platform, which was previously operating out of Hong Kong, had recently registered with the country’s securities watchdog as a digital assets business through its local subsidiary, FTX Digital Markets.
Aside from the registration, the firm’s Bahamian branch named Ryan Salame as its new CEO. Salame was previously working as the head of over-the-counter at Alameda Research.
With regulators tightening their grip on the crypto industry, FTX seems to have found a haven in the Bahamas due to its pre-existing laws on cryptocurrencies. Bankman-Fried has also hailed the country’s “proactive stance” on digital assets while sharing the reasons for the move.
FTX’s exit from Hong Kong comes hot on the heels of China’s ongoing crackdown against the crypto industry.
On Friday, the People’s Bank of China announced a blanket ban on cryptocurrency trading and mining. The country had already outlawed crypto services in May, which triggered a mass transition of crypto-focused businesses to neighboring Kazakhstan and North America.
This time, however, Beijing is targeting the nascent asset class through a variety of measures, which require the cooperation of multiple government agencies, including the PBoC, the Cyberspace Administration of China, and the Ministry of Public Security.