Michael McCaffrey, the chief executive officer of cryptocurrency news outlet The Block, resigned after media website Axios reported early Saturday, Hong Kong time, that he had received three undisclosed multi-million dollar loans from Alameda Research, the brokerage arm of failed digital assets exchange FTX.com.

See related article: Disgraced FTX founder SBF to speak at New York Times Dealbook Summit despite controversy

Fast facts

  • The company’s chief revenue officer, Bobby Moran, will lead the company following McCaffrey’s departure, according to a statement released Saturday.
  • Moran said that no one outside of McCaffery knew of the three loans totaling US$43 million from February 2021.
  • McCaffrey’s limited liability company, MJMCCAFFREY LLC, took the first loan of US$12 million from Alameda in 2021 to buy out investors. He chose not to disclose the loan in fear of compromising the news outlet’s objectivity in covering FTX, he claimed in a Twitter thread shortly after the revelation, confirming Axios’ report.
  • The second loan, worth US$15 million, helped fund day-to-day operations, while a US$16 million third loan was used to buy personal property in the Bahamas, where FTX is based, McCaffrey said.
  • McCaffrey has also stepped down as the company’s sole board member, which is expanding to three people.
  • The Block hopes to buy out McCaffrey’s majority stake in the company as part of its restructuring.
  • Since FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November,  its collapse has led to market contagion spreading in the cryptocurrency industry.

See related article: SBF’s parents, FTX executives bought Bahamas property worth US$121 million: Reuters

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