In a letter to the U.S. Treasury, FTX detailed its plans to target Broward’s “most vulnerable” residents with a banking scheme involving digital assets and crypto wallets. Yesterday, REDBROWARD revealed FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s March 2022 testimony to Congress where he discussed a partnership with Broward County Government. “We began our program in South Florida in partnership with OIC of South Florida and Broward county government, and have recently announced a new million dollar program with the City of Chicago, and look forward to expanding to many other cities and communities across the country,” Bankman-Fried said.

An August 2022 letter to the U.S. Treasury gave more details about FTX plans for Broward.

“FTX is dedicated to actualizing the digital asset industry’s promise of fast, accessible, and low-cost financial services from the frontlines of Ukraine’s defense of democracy, to American communities left out of the traditional financial system,” the letter stated. FTX claimed the solution for the inability of some minorities to open traditional bank accounts was to create bank accounts utilizing FTX products such as a digital wallet. “FTX Foundation is collaborating with local governments, communities, and organizations across the country to offer those cut out of the financial system a free bank account and debit card linked to a crypto wallet,” FTX wrote.

The FTX Foundation, the charitable arm of FTX, was the organization behind the FTX Hackathon and Crypto Summit which targeted Broward students. Sam Bankman-Fried’s aunt, Broward Democrat lobbyist Barbara Miller was the driving force behind the FTX Hackathon. A Broward government source said Miller was pushing Broward County government to expand ties with FTX.

“We launched our first pilot partnership and focus groups in South Florida in partnership with OIC of South Florida and Broward county government, with focus group sessions in order to better learn about the challenges facing the unbanked in detail,” FTX told the U.S. Treasury.

Did the FTX/OIC partnership go beyond the focus group stage?

FTX funded the August 2022 OIC “Middle Class Summit.” How much did FTX pay for sponsorship? Did FTX pay other amounts to FTX?

FTX told the U.S. Treasury its plans for Chicago included a $1 million dollar contribution by the FTX Foundation which would be disbursed as $500 payments to 100 individuals for 12 months. Did FTX have similar plans for Broward?