🌞 A Ray of Light

FTX, a bankrupt crypto exchange, has recovered over $5 billion in cash and liquid assets that may be used to repay creditors. This was announced by FTX attorney, Andrew G. Dietderich, during a bankruptcy court hearing in Wilmington, Delaware.

• The exchange also recovered a large amount of illiquid crypto assets worth $4.6 billion. Lawyers identified more than 9 million customer accounts, far more than earlier estimates of around 1 million. Dietderich stated that the size of the settlement fund for FTX creditors is not yet clear. This is a significant increase in recovered funds compared to earlier filings.
• The new CEO of FTX, John Ray III, had previously announced that the new leadership had recovered $1 billion worth of assets. Ray had noted that there was an utter lack of financial and other record-keeping at the exchange, making it difficult to trace funds. Ray also stated that one of the main issues was that FTX and Alameda Research commingled user funds, allowing Alameda to use FTX customers’ money for risky financial bets.
• Dietderich also informed the court that they know how Alameda spent all the money. Bahamian authorities have seized a stash of the company’s crypto, including $170 million worth of FTT, the native token of FTX.

The US Department of Justice also seized around $500 million worth of shares in Robinhood tied to Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of FTX. Bankman-Fried has been charged with eight criminal charges including wire fraud and conspiracy by misusing customer funds. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also charged him with “orchestrating a scheme to defraud equity investors in FTX.”