The FTX trading platform and its affiliates, collectively known as the FTX Debtors, have announced that they’ve identified around $5.5 billion in liquid assets, which consist of $1.7 billion in cash, $3.5 billion of crypto assets, and FTT tokens, and $300 million of securities as they attempt to recover funds from the bankrupt crypto exchange and its subsidiaries. The FTX Debtors have also stated that half of these digital assets are already under their control, while the other half was subject to unauthorized third-party transfers after FTX filed for bankruptcy protection, as well as transferred to the control of the Securities Commission of the Bahamas in the case of FTX.com.
According to the FTX Debtors, there is a “substantial shortfall” at both FTX.com and FTX US, which is the American arm of the exchange. They have identified $1.6 billion of digital assets associated with FTX.com, of which $323 million was subject to unauthorized third-party transfers post-petition and $426 million of which was transferred to cold storage under the control of The Securities Commission of The Bahamas, $742 million of which is in cold storage under the control of the FTX Debtors, and $121 million of which is pending transfer to cold storage under the control of the FTX Debtors.
Similarly, for FTX US, the debtors have identified roughly $181 million of digital assets, $90 million of which was subject to unauthorized third-party transfers post-petition, $88 million of which is in cold storage under the control of the FTX Debtors, and $3 million of which is pending transfer to cold storage under the control of the FTX Debtors.
The FTX collapse has been a major blow to the cryptocurrency industry, and the recovery of funds is crucial for the platform’s customers. The announcement of the identified assets is a positive development, but it’s important to note that the information is still subject to change and the FTX debtors will have to work hard to recover the assets that were transferred to unauthorized third-party or the Securities Commission of the Bahamas. Additionally, it raises questions about the security and protection of assets on crypto exchanges and whether stricter regulations are needed to prevent such incidents in the future.
