On Wednesday, a the attorney for bankrupt cryptocurrency trading venue FTX, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, stated that the company recovered more than $5 billion. However, the extent of consumer losses in its collapse was still unknown.
US authorities have accused Bankman-Fried of orchestrating an “epic” scam that may have cost investors, customers and lenders billions of dollars; the company’s valuation was $32 billion a year ago, but it filed for bankruptcy in November.
Andy Dietderich, a lawyer for failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, says the company has “recovered $5 billion in cash and liquid coins.” The full extent of the exchange’s customer shortfall is “still unclear” as they continue to “work to rebuild transaction histories.”
The Bahamas Securities Commission seized assets, most of which were the exchange’s native token, FTT. These assets were not included in the recovered funds. At press time, the total value of all tokens in circulation was $444.7 million.
In addition, the bankruptcy lawyer is said to have told Reuters that the company plans to sell non-strategic investments. The book value of these investments is $4.6 billion. The lawyer also claimed that they had discovered many illiquid crypto assets. However, these are more challenging for the market.
FTX Lawyer Seeks Approval to Sell Affiliates
On Wednesday, FTX’s legal team appeared in court to request permission to sell LedgerX, Embed, FTX Japan and Europe. FTX is also seeking the consent of US bankruptcy judge John Dorsey in Delaware to maintain the anonymity of its clients for six months.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the exchange’s founder, was charged with two counts of wire fraud and six counts of conspiracy in Manhattan federal court last month on allegations that he stole client deposits to pay off debts at his hedge fund, Alameda Research, and lied to equity. investors on the financial condition of the crypto exchange. So far, he has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
According to court documents, each of the four companies that the cryptocurrency exchange plans to sell operates independently from the rest of the FTX group and has its own group of clients and management.
Despite the fact that the cryptocurrency exchange has received many unsolicited offers, it says it has no plans to sell any of the companies and will instead begin auctioning them next month.
Bankrupt FTX 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 stock market crash. The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York created the Task Force to “trace and recover” lost customer funds and oversee investigations and prosecutions related to the exchange’s collapse. US lawmakers asked the judge in charge of the FTX bankruptcy case to appoint an “independent examiner”, but the judge rejected the motion due to a potential conflict of interest. interest.
Meanwhile, the FTT token price seems unstable in light of the ongoing scandal of the past few months. Since the exchange filed for bankruptcy, the token’s value has fallen nearly 95%, from an all-time high of $28 to its current value of $1.3, with no prospect of recovery.