A former employee told CoinDesk that many of FTX’s staff kept the money from their paychecks at the exchange because it was convenient, utilizing FTX’s easy fiat off-ramps to withdraw money when they needed it. Employees’ use of FTX as a bank was encouraged by Bankman-Fried and other higher-ups, according to former employees speaking to CoinDesk on the condition of anonymity.

According to anonymous Twitter account Autism Capital, after FTX bought out Binance’s shares in the company last year, employees were encouraged to invest in FTX.com at a 50% discount, which the company promised to match up to $250,000 – a deal that was allegedly heavily promoted internally. That equity, along with other employee funds (including bonuses sometimes given out in the form of FTT, the exchange’s native token) was then allegedly stored on the FTX platform.

It is currently unclear whether any employees were able to withdraw their funds from the exchange before withdrawals were halted.