FTX Hackathon - REDBROWARD

Barbara Miller with Debbi Hixon at 2021 FTX event.

State of Florida financial documents show Broward School Board Member Debbi Hixon worked for cryptocurrency giant FTX. The company filed for bankruptcy on Friday and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried resigned. Published reports say Bankman-Fried lost nearly $15 billon dollars over the last week. Yesterday, REDBROWARD revealed Bankman-Fried is the nephew of Broward Democrat consultant Barbara Miller.

Miller ran the campaigns of Rod Velez, Debbi Hixon and others. On Friday, published reports said FTX announced it was halting donations by the FTX Foundation Group amid “questions about legitimacy.” Marketwatch reported, “The senior staff of Bankman-Fried’s philanthropic FTX Future Fund publicly quit Thursday night, saying that the fund could no longer operate or process grants, and that they ‘have fundamental questions about the legitimacy and integrity of the business operations that were funding the FTX Foundation and the Future Fund.’”

“The group added, ‘We are devastated to say that it looks likely that there are many committed grants that the Future Fund will be unable to honor.’”

The FTX Foundation Group funded the FTX Hackathon, a contest for Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade students which offered a grand prize of one million dollars.

Debbi Hixon appeared to be the point person for the FTX contest. Information provided by FTX urged interested parties to contact Debbi Hixon at gmail account.

Since 2021, Hixon repeatedly promoted the FTX events on her social media. She posted pictures taken at the FTX events. Some of people photographed with Hixon included Barbara Miller, School Board Member Lori Alhadeff and School Superintendent Vickie Cartwright.

On her 2021 financial disclosure form, Debbi Hixon listed $49,000 income from FTX in Berkeley, California.

Was Debbi Hixon paid to promote the FTX Hackathon to Broward students?

Did Barbara Miller help Debbi Hixon get a paying job with FTX?

Will the Broward students who won $500,000 in this year’s FTX Foundation contest have to return the money?

Will Debbi Hixon have to return the $49,000 she got from FTX?

Debbi Hixon with Sam Bankman-Fried in March 2022

Debbi Hixon and Barbara Miller at 2021 FTX event

The financial world is buzzing about the collapse of crypto currency giant FTX. On Friday, FTX filed for bankruptcy protection after losing nearly $30 billion dollars. FTX wunderkind CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has resigned as well. While most of South Florida wondered about the effects of the bankruptcy on the FTX Arena in Miami, REDBROWARD obtained photographs showing the ties between Sam Bankman-Fried and Broward politicians and lobbyists.

In an October 2021 Facebook post, Broward Democrat political consultant Barbara Miller congratulated her nephew, Sam Bankman-Fried, for his “charitable achievements.” Miller is a longtime advisor to numerous Broward School Board Members including Debbi Hixon.

In 2021 and 2022, Debbi Hixon posted pictures from the “FTX Hackathon” events sponsored by the FTX Foundation Group. Teams of South Florida students competed for scholarships paid by Bankman-Fried. In March 2022, one Broward Schools team won $500,000 from FTX.

On Friday, FTX announced it was halting donations by the FTX Foundation Group amid “questions about legitimacy.” Markertwatch reported, “The senior staff of Bankman-Fried’s philanthropic FTX Future Fund publicly quit Thursday night, saying that the fund could no longer operate or process grants, and that they ‘have fundamental questions about the legitimacy and integrity of the business operations that were funding the FTX Foundation and the Future Fund.’”

“The group added, ‘We are devastated to say that it looks likely that there are many committed grants that the Future Fund will be unable to honor.’”

How did Broward Schools, students and School Board Members get involved in the FTX mess?