Not long before FTX collapsed in November, its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, sent $400 million to an obscure cryptocurrency trading firm called Modulo Capital.
The fledgling firm, which was founded in March and operated out of the same Bahamian compound where Mr. Bankman-Fried lived, had no track record or public profile. One of the founders, Duncan Rheingans-Yoo, was only two years out of college. His business partner, Xiaoyun Zhang, known as Lily, was a former Wall Street trader who had previously been romantically involved with Mr. Bankman-Fried, according to four people with knowledge of their relationship.
Now, Modulo is emerging as a crucial part of the investigation by federal prosecutors into Mr. Bankman-Fried and his once giant cryptocurrency exchange. They’re examining whether he used FTX’s customer funds to invest in the little-known firm when his existing hedge fund, Alameda Research, was struggling amid a wider crypto industry downturn. The $400 million outlay was one of Mr. Bankman-Fried’s single largest investments.
Source: The Unknown Hedge Fund That Got $400 Million From Sam Bankman-Fried – The New York Times