As the bankruptcy and restructuring saga of FTX and its affiliated entities continues to unfold, more and more cases of off-exchange asset transfers are coming to light.
Closer to half a billion
The US DOJ has already begun investigating the $400 million hack that drained assets from the FTX property. The court will ultimately determine whether the hack was done by bad actors who profited from the exchange’s chaotic downfall or an inside job.
However the News shared today during a meeting with FTX’s Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (UCC) brings the total count of assets that disappeared due to hacking after the bankruptcy to just $10 million, down from half a billion.
This figure represents a substantial fraction of the $5.5 billion in liquid assets purportedly identified by debtors so far.
Half of identified US assets stolen
Unfortunately, the figures above refer to the assets held by the FTX Group in general. As far as the US entity of the failed exchange is concerned, only $181 million in liquid assets have reportedly been identified. $88 million has already been placed in cold rooms under the control of FTX debtors, with an additional $3 million in assets pending transfer to cold rooms under debtors’ control.
The remaining $90 million appears to have caught fire.
According to John J. Ray III, the new CEO of FTX, brought in to oversee the restructuring process due to his experience with similar bankruptcies like Enron’s, the information provided during the call is preliminary and it took “Herculean efforts” to uncover it.
“We are making significant progress in our efforts to maximize recoveries, and it has taken a Herculean investigative effort for our team to uncover this preliminary information. We ask our stakeholders to understand that this information is still preliminary and subject to change. We will provide additional information as soon as we can.”
The temporary CEO has already criticized FTX for an almost unprecedented lack of corporate oversight and due diligence. Given the messy nature of the company’s accounting, Mr. Ray’s assessment of the efforts required to pinpoint these assets is, in all likelihood, accurate.
Mr. Ray also assured creditors that he and his team have been hired to clean up the mess at FTX and will do everything in their power to recover as much of the assets held by FTX creditors as possible.
Binance Free $100 (Exclusive) – Use this link to sign up to receive $100 free and 10% off your first month’s fees for Binance Futures (terms).
PrimeXBT Special Offer – Use this link to sign up and enter the code POTATO50 to receive up to $7,000 on your deposits.
