FTXFTXFTXNorth Dimension was where FTX customers were told to send money. If they wanted to trade on its exchange, according to a complaint filed by the SEC.
By Todaystrendnews
Among the 130 or so companies in Sam Bankman-Fried’s sprawling crypto empire, North Dimension Inc. assumed a lower profile. Unlike FTX, its name was not splashed. On bFillboards or sports arenas, and its business was not promoted by celebrities.
Still, North Dimension had an important role in the FTX mess, regulators now say. In fact, they claim, the little-known company was at the center of the misappropriation of FTX customers’ funds.
As an affiliate of Alameda Research, the crypto hedge fund and trading firm. Also founded by Bankman-Fried, North Dimension was where FTX customers were told. To send money if they wanted to trade the exchange, according to a complaint filed Wednesday. With the Securities and Exchange Commission.
But North Dimension Inc. also appears to be a fake online electronics retailer, an todaystrendnews News investigation found. Its website, now disabled, is archived on the Internet.
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The SEC complaint against former Alameda CEO Carolyn Ellison. And former FTX co-founder Gary Wang alleges that FTX wired. Money to North Dimension for clients’ own use. And instead stopped funding Alameda’s trading activities for other Bankman-Fried ventures.
“Bankman-Fried directed FTX to have customers send funds to North. Dimension to conceal the fact that the funds were being sent to an account controlled by Alameda.” The SEC complaint said. North Dimension’s website.
Did not disclose any connection to Alameda, the regulator added.
North Dimension’s website, now out of commission, mentions no relationship with Bankman-Fried. Instead, the company claimed that the mobile phones. Laptops and other such items were at the same Berkeley, California, address as FTX US. “Our vision is to be the most popular website for buying mobile phones. And electronics by providing complete product information. And a transparent purchasing process,” the archived answer dimensions site said.
North Dimension Crypto had no crazy AD. The website is full of misspellings and weird product prices. For example, item listings sometimes showed “sale” prices that were hundreds of dollars above a regular price. And once customers find their way to the site, they may actually have trouble buying the product once they get there. Clicking on a laptop, say, will generate this pop-up: “Free to send a message. We collaborate with aspiring brands and people. We want to create something great together.”
It has not been determined why FTX or Bankman-Fried appear to have created a fake online. Electronics retailer called North Dimension Inc. to which FTX customers were advised to send their money. A representative for Bankman-Fried declined to comment.
Bankman-Fried was indicted earlier this month and extradited from the Bahamas. Where he has been held since his company collapsed last week in early November. He remains under house arrest at his parents’ home in California after posting bail. His former colleagues Ellison and Wang pleaded guilty. To federal fraud charges in the Southern District of New York on Wednesday.
‘Eliminating counterfeits’
FTX customers sending money to North Dimension likely connect. It through Silvergate Bank, a San Diego institution. That is one of the largest financial services providers in the crypto industry. North Dimension Inc. Silvergate holds two bank accounts, FTX bankruptcy documents show
SilverGate is under investigation by Congress for its role as FTX’s main banking partner. Last week, in response to requests for information from four senators, Silvergate said. It was reviewing transactions in bank accounts linked to FTX entities.
The bank conducted “significant due diligence on FTX. And its related entities,” it told senators, “both during the onboarding process and through ongoing monitoring. We have a track record of closing accounts that are used for purposes outside of their intended use.”
Silvergate Bank did not immediately respond to requests for comment. On the due diligence it conducted on North Dimension. Or whether it had visited its website to verify its activities. In the past, a Silvergate Bank representative declined to comment on specific casesciting client confidentiality. Silvergate is overseen by the Federal Reserve Board and its deposits are guaranteed by. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
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The bank’s website details the types of due diligence it regularly. conducts on companies that provide banking services. This includes a “site visit” and a “review of the organization’s compliance culture.”
North Dimension was incorporated in Delaware in August 2020. records show, about a year and a half after FTX began operations. Its incorporation papers, and those of a sister company called North Wireless Dimension. include Fenwick & West, the Seattle-based law firm that employed FTX’s chief regulatory officer. Daniel Friedberg, before he joined the crypto empire. As todaystrendnews News reported, Friedberg was an executive at an online gaming software company. That was embroiled. in a scandal in the early 2000s where insiders at a poker website called Ultimate.
Bet could see the hands of other players and place winning bets accordingly.
The electronics retailing website for North Dimension was created. In November 2021 by an unidentified registrant in Hong Kong. According to analysis by DomainTools, a prominent website research service. Also to advertising an “iPad 11” that the site identified as a cellphone (on sale for $899, before $410). The website also advertised a newsletter if customers could submit their email address. “Build trust by helping you make informed purchasing decisions,” the site says
This fall, a month before FTX was fragmented, a second mysterious North Dimension site appeared on the web. It carried a dot-org address, indicating it was a non-profit. although it identified itself as an established financial services firm.
The second North Dimension website is sparse, with just two pages above a picture of a mountain range. It says the company provides “mature and stable fund management. liquidity and payment processing services”. No address or contact information is provided.
An analysis by DomainTools shows that this North Dimension site was created on October 3, 2022 and registered in Ontario, Canada. “We bring the sophistication we’ve come to expect from mainstream financial institutions. when it comes to cryptocurrency,” the website says.
