On December 12th local time, according to a statement released by the Office of the Minister of Justice and the Department of Legal Affairs of the Bahamas, Sam Bankman Fried (SBF), the founder and former CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which has entered bankruptcy proceedings, was arrested on the same day in the Bahamas. The Attorney General of the Bahamas, Ryan Pinder, further stated in a statement that the United States may request the extradition of SBF.

The Minister of Justice of the Bahamas, Ryan Pinder, stated in a statement that based on the aforementioned notice and accompanying materials, it is lawful to seek the arrest and detention of Bankman Fried under the Bahamas' Extradition Act.

After learning of the arrest of a crypto tycoon, Prime Minister Philip Davis of the Bahamas stated that the Bahamas, as a Caribbean country, and the United States, have a common interest in pursuing FTX related personnel for suspected fraud and violation of the law. The Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Philip Davis, responded that "although the United States is filing separate criminal charges against the SBF, the Bahamas will continue to conduct regulatory and criminal investigations into the FTX crash with the continued cooperation of law enforcement and regulatory partners in the United States and elsewhere

According to foreign media reports, the Bahamas and the United States signed extradition treaties as early as the early 20th century. The current extradition treaty was signed in 1990 and requires arrest warrants issued by judges or other competent authorities.

In early November, Bankman Fried announced on social media that more than 130 FTX group entities, including cryptocurrency exchange FTX, US subsidiary FTX.us, and related "sisters" trading company Alameda Research, had applied for bankruptcy. He also announced his resignation as CEO of FTX and was succeeded by John J. RayIII. According to multiple court documents previously submitted by FTX to the bankruptcy court, FTX's debt may involve over 1 million creditors, including nearly $3.1 billion owed to the top 50 largest creditors and approximately $1.45 billion owed to the top 10 creditors.

However, as of now, the US authorities have not provided further comments on this matter.