The former FTX Executive’s charitable foundation has earned $150 million from potential insider trading.
The Wall Street Journal reports that a former philanthropic FTX executive made $150 million from insider trading. Ruiri Donnelly had created Polaris Ventures and managed to organize a crowdsourcing through FTT token. Next, the earnings he is now trying to access from a frozen account. The report has stated that FTX employees are entitled to receive FTT tokens at 5 cents each before trading opens to the public on 1. Now, the former chief of staff is trying to access funds from this project in an unaccessible account.
FTX Executive Made Millions on FTT
While working on the now-collapsed stock exchange, as well as at trading firm Alameda Research, one FTX executive’s philanthropy reportedly generated $150 million in insider trading. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, FTX employees were given access to FTT at a lower rate, netting the charity millions in profit.
The charity in question is Polaris Ventures, which was started by the chief of staff of the cryptocurrency exchange, Rauiri Donnelly. After the offer was made to FTX employees weeks before it opened to public trading, Donnelly demanded $562,000 of his salary to be converted into the native token.
Then, FTX sent the token to a Swiss-based charity he co-founded, “at his request,” according to the report. Moreover, the foundation “made millions of dollars selling tokens after it began trading publicly at $1 in 2019 and 2020,” the report added. Pointing out that Donnelly was still working on the stock exchange.
Donnelly’s attorney, Jason B. “The FTT that Mr. Donnely directed to be donated on his behalf to Polaris was not FTX money,” Halperin stated in a statement to the Wall Street Journal. Now, as FTX deals with Chapter 11 bankruptcy, $30 million in Polaris assets cannot be accessed. However, the company still “holds approximately $150 million in assets,” according to the report.
