The Bahamas Securities Commission confirms it has $3.5 billion in FTX assets.

The Bahamas Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed the seizure of $3.5 billion in cryptocurrencies from the bankrupt digital currency exchange FTX.

The supervising authority validated the exact amount received by FTX’s Bahamas subsidiary, FTX Digital Markets, and said that the monies were transferred to its own digital wallets “for protection.” It previously confirmed ownership of some of FTX’s digital assets but refuses to quantify their value.

According to the Commission, the assets were valued at more than $3.5 billion based on market prices at the time of the transfer.

The transfer occurred on November 12, a day after it filed for protection from creditors under Article 11 of the US bankruptcy code.

The cryptocurrencies are held “temporarily” until the Supreme Court of the Bahamas orders their delivery to clients, creditors, or liquidators of the bankruptcy estate.

The regulator stated that it withdrew the assets after obtaining information from the cryptocurrency exchange’s co-founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, about intrusions on the networks of FTX’s Bahamas business. It stated that there was a “high risk of immediate leakage” of assets under FTX Digital Markets’ control.

Shortly after the firm’s financial difficulties became public, it was targeted by an unknown-origin hack that stole cryptocurrency worth an estimated $650 million.

The committee desired to handle FTX’s insolvency proceedings in the Bahamas. The move, however, was challenged by FTX’s US counsel. They had even refused to grant access to the company’s computer systems to court-appointed liquidators, claiming that “we don’t trust the local government.”

FTX’s lawyers also claimed that they had “received nothing but a stone wall; a complete refusal to offer any information whatsoever, including an accounting of diverted assets” in their discussions with the regulatory bodies of the island states thus far.

Bankman-Fried, 30, was detained in the Bahamas and then extradited to the United States, where he is facing allegations of fraud, conspiracy, money laundering, and other offenses. He was released on $250 million bail last week and is apparently receiving visitors at his parents’ house in California, where he continues to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.