Broward School Superintendent Vickie Cartwright finally addressed the growing scandal surrounding an FTX Hackathon won by three Broward students. As REDBROWARD first reported in November, the 2022 FTX Hackathon and Crypto Summit offered a one million dollar prize to students from Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach schools. The prize was split between Broward students and students from an Alonzo Mourning school in Miami.

In November, FTX imploded after investors learned of accounting irregularities by founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) and his partners. Bankman-Fried was arrested last month by Federal authorities. Experts believe FTX will attempt to collect the prize money from the students due to alleged fraud by SBF.

The FTX Hackathon was the brainchild of his SBF’s father Joe Bankman. His aunt Barbara Miller organized the event with the help of Broward School Board Member Debbi Hixon. Miller is a Democrat political consultant with close ties to numerous School Board Members.

In an exclusive interview with REDBROWARD last November, Hixon confirmed each student received a $15,000 scholarship for winning the Hackathon. The $500,000 grand prize was deposited with an entity at Florida International University (FIU).

Last night at a Broward Schools town hall in Pompano Beach, activist Chris Nelson asked Superintendent Cartwright and Hixon about the FTX matter.

Cartwright read the following statement:

“The FTX charity hackathon was open to students from across south Florida. The competition was not organized by Broward County Public Schools and the District was not a recipient of any funds from FTX.”

But questions still remain.

Did any organization with ties to the District act as a “bridge” between the District and FTX. Did any of these organizations or foundations receive money from FTX?

Why did FIU get the $500,000 prize won by Broward students?