Jeenah Moon | Bloomberg | Getty Images Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX cryptocurrency exchange has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US, according to a company statement posted on Twitter. Bankman-Fried also stepped down as CEO and was replaced by John J. Ray III, although the outgoing chief will stay on to help with the transition. Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried’s crypto firm, and about 130 additional affiliates are part of the voluntary process.

Oppenheimer Says Coinbase Can Still Rise 90% Even After FTX’s ‘Lehman Brothers Moment’ “The immediate Chapter 11 relief is appropriate to give FTX Group an opportunity to assess its situation and develop a process to maximize recoveries for stakeholders,” said FTX’s new head, Ray. “The FTX Group has valuable assets that can only be effectively managed in an organized, shared process. I want to ensure that every employee, customer, creditor, contractor, shareholder, investor, government authority and other stakeholder will conduct this effort diligently , completeness and transparency,” continued Ray. He added that those concerned should understand that events are moving quickly and that the new team has only recently been committed and that they should review the material filed in the proceedings file in the coming days for more information. It caps off a tumultuous week for one of the industry’s biggest names. Within days, FTX went from a $32 billion valuation to bankruptcy as liquidity dried up, customers demanded withdrawals and rival exchange Binance scrapped its non-binding agreement to buy the company. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried admitted on Thursday that it “started”. Anthony Scaramucci, the founder of SkyBridge Capital and Trump’s junior communications director, flew to the Bahamas this week to help Bankman-Fried as an investor and friend. When it got there, he says, it seemed beyond the point of a simple liquidity bailout. He said he saw no evidence of this mishandling when he and other investors first considered FTX as a potential business partner. “Deceiving I guess is the right word, but I’m very disappointed because I like Sam,” Scaramucci told CNBC’s Squawk Box on Friday morning. “I don’t know what happened because I wasn’t familiar with FTX.” The Chapter 11 process exempts the following subsidiaries: LedgerX LLC, FTX Digital Markets Ltd., FTX Australia Pty Ltd. and FTX Express Pay Ltd. This is breaking news. Check back for updates. — CNBC’s Jack Stebbins contributed to this report.