On Wednesday, a counsel for the bankrupt crypto trading venue FTX, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, stated that the company recovered more than $5 billion. However, the magnitude of consumer losses in its collapse was still unknown.
U.S. authorities have accused Bankman-Fried of organizing an “epic” scam that may have cost investors, clients, and lenders billions of dollars; the company’s valuation was $32 billion a year ago, but it filed for bankruptcy in November.
Andy Dietderich, an attorney for the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, says that the company has “recovered $5 billion in cash and liquid coins.” The full extent of the exchange’s client deficit is “still unclear” as they continue “working to rebuild transaction histories.”
The Securities Commission of the Bahamas seized assets, most of which were the exchange’s native token, FTT. These assets were not included in the funds that were recovered. As of press time, the total value of all tokens in circulation was $444.7 million.
Furthermore, the bankruptcy lawyer is said to have told Reuters that the company plans to sell off investments that are not strategic. The book value of these investments is $4.6 billion. The attorney also claimed that they had discovered many illiquid crypto assets. However, these are more challenging to market.
FTX Attorney Seeks Approval For Selling Affiliates
On Wednesday, FTX’s legal team appeared in court to seek permission to sell LedgerX, Embed, FTX Japan, and Europe. FTX is also seeking US Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey’s consent in Delaware to maintain the anonymity of its customers for six months.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the exchange founder, was indicted on two counts of wire fraud and six conspiracy counts in Manhattan federal court last month on allegations that he stole customer deposits to pay off debts at his hedge fund, Alameda Research, and lied to equity investors about the crypto exchange’s financial condition. So far, he has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
According to court documents, each of the four businesses the crypto exchange plans to sell operates independently from the rest of the FTX group and has its own set of customers and management.
Even though the cryptocurrency exchange has received a lot of unsolicited offers, it says it has no plans to sell any of the companies and will instead start auctioning them off next month.
FTX’s Bankrupt Founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, Denies All Criminal Charges
Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of FTX, has pleaded not guilty to all criminal charges related to the collapse of the exchange. The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York set up the Task Force to “track and recover” lost customer funds and oversee investigations and prosecutions related to the collapse of the exchange. US lawmakers asked the judge in charge of the FTX bankruptcy case to appoint an “independent examiner,” but the judge denied the motion due to a potential conflict of interest.
Meanwhile, the price of the FTT token appears unstable in light of the ongoing scandal of recent months. Since the exchange declared bankruptcy, the token’s value has fallen by almost 95%, from an all-time high of $28 to its present value of $1.3, with no prospect of ever recovering.
