WSJ: Alameda had used a "backdoor" to withdraw billions of dollars in customer funds before the collapse of FTX

ChainCatcher news, according to WSJ reports, informed sources say that a few months before the collapse of FTX, some of its U.S. employees discovered a so-called "backdoor" on the platform, which Alameda Research allegedly used to extract billions of dollars in customer funds from FTX.

The employees who discovered this issue reported it to senior management in their department, and some claimed that management discussed the issue with an assistant to FTX founder SBF. However, the issue was never resolved. In the summer of 2022, senior team members who raised concerns about Alameda's special privileges over FTX were fired.

This "backdoor" played a significant role in the charges against SBF, who is on trial in federal court in New York for fraud charges, which began this week. The former FTX head has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Prosecutors claim that SBF secretly ordered the programming of "special features" to steal FTX customer funds, including granting Alameda the ability to handle FTX's massive pool of funds. Court documents reveal that a line of code hidden deep within FTX's code allowed Alameda to have liabilities of up to $65 billion on FTX.