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
