Failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX fires three senior executives

The firings include co-founder Gary Wang as the company and its investors brace for the fallout from its bankruptcy

The US bankruptcy proceedings involve several FTX group companies with more than 100,000, and possibly more than a million, creditors. AP

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which recently filed for US bankruptcy court protection, has fired three senior executives, including co-founder Gary Wang, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, quoting an FTX spokeswoman.

The other sacked executives were engineering director Nishad Singh and Caroline Ellison, who ran FTX's trading arm Alameda Research, the newspaper reported.

FTX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy protection last week and former Wall Street trader Sam Bankman-Fried resigned as chief executive after the rival exchange Binance walked away from a proposed acquisition.

The US bankruptcy proceedings involve several FTX group companies with more than 100,000, and possibly more than a million, creditors.

According to interviews with several people close to Mr Bankman-Fried and company communications not previously reported, the company was secretly taking risks with customer funds to prop up a trading firm owned by Mr Bankman-Fried, which led to the company's collapse.

The company had come under some regulatory oversight through the dozens of licences it picked up through its many acquisitions. But that did not protect its customers and investors, who now face losses worth billions of dollars.

Several crypto companies are bracing for the fallout from the FTX collapse, with many counting their exposure in millions to the beleaguered exchange.