FTX has recovered over $7bn and is planning for Chapter 11, says lawyer

FTX, at one point the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange before its spectacular collapse in late 2022, has recovered over $7.3 billion in cash and liquid crypto assets, the company’s attorney said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a US bankruptcy court hearing in Delaware, FTX attorney Andy Dietderich said that its tally of recovered funds had increased by more than $800 million since January. He also said that the “situation has stabilised” as the company looks to move beyond the legacy of its founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who has pleaded not guilty to over a dozen charges related to fraud.

The lawyer said that FTX has benefitted from the recent rises in crypto prices, noting that its total recovery prices would be valued at $6.2 billion based on rates from November 2022 when it filed for bankruptcy.

Dietderich added that FTX is negotiating with stakeholders about options for restarting its exchange which came to a screeching halt in November when users withdrew $6 billion over the span of three days. A decision on a restart may be made this quarter, he said, though Dietderich did not provide details on what this would mean for customers whose deposits have been locked up over the past six months.

Dietderich, who described FTX’s app as “a facade”, said that the company would require significant capital to restart its exchange and noted that the existing customer interface had little connection to the movement of money behind the scenes. Dietderich said that it is not clear whether FTX should use its own funds to restart the exchange rather than repaying customers, with the latter likely requiring outside funding or a sale of FTX’s assets.

The lawyer also said that FTX is working on a Chapter 11 plan to offer it a path out of bankruptcy and plans to file this in July. Dietderich however admitted that FTX does not expect any plan to be approved before the second quarter of 2024 and that details still need to be worked out as creditors fight for their share.

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