Jump Crypto’s troubles began in February 2022 when hackers exploited the Wormhole bridge, fraudulently minted 120,000 Ethereum (wETH) tokens, and then exchanged them for ETH and other tokens on the Solana blockchain.
Jump Crypto, which owns the developer behind Wormhole, took responsibility by depositing an amount of ETH tokens equivalent to $321 million into the Wormhole bridge.
Continuing into May 2022, the collapse of the Terra ecosystem affected Jump Crypto, leading to an investor lawsuit accusing the company of reaping $1.3 billion in profits by coordinating with Terra founder – Do Kwon, to manipulate UST price. The lawsuit also accuses Jump Crypto of receiving LUNA tokens at steep discounts, sometimes 99% off the market price.
Later that year, concerns about Jump Crypto’s exposure to FTX emerged. However, the company has reassured investors that it is one of the best capitalized and liquid companies.
The CFTC’s investigation into Jump Crypto may include the trading activities outlined in the investor lawsuit and is related to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against Terraform Labs. However, this is not a sign of guilt or wrongdoing as the regulator has not yet made much of a discovery.
