Collapsed crypto exchange FTX starts to repay billions to customers

The FTX estate started a refund program of the creditor that could be more than $ 16 billion and could release $ 1.2 billion on Tuesday to smaller claim holders. It is the newest step in the collapsed crypto exchange efforts to help former customers earn back funds.

The initial distribution of the bankruptcy goods is aimed at “Convenience Class”, claims less than $ 50,000 and reaches the majority of the users affected. According to FTX, the managers of the estate send payments in phases to guarantee good verification and orderly distribution.

“The start of these distributions is an incredible and important milestone for FTX,” said John J. Ray III, plan manager of the FTX Recovery Trust, in a statement.

In October, FTX’s bankruptcy made announced that creditors and customers would probably receive between $ 14.5 billion to $ 16.3 billion in total compensation. A few hundred thousand investors who had money on the stock market have filed claims in the aftermath of its chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection.

FTX used customer funds for its hedge fund, Alameda Research, and the once regular founder of the Exchange, Sam Bankman-Fried, was found guilty of cheating customers in November 2023.

Not all creditors receive immediate reimbursement from the estate if they are, among other things, larger than $ 50,000 or are confronted with assessment. Some claimants have not been able to prove that they are eligible to pay back their assets. The estate is planning extra “catch -up” payments in Q2 2025.

Dissatisfied customers?

But the settlement will probably leave many creditors dissatisfied, Julian Grigo, head of institutions and fintech at Asset Custody Protocol Safe, said Decrypt.

“Although the long -awaited bankruptcy plan for the repayment of the creditors has brought, the reality is far from reassuring,” said Grigo.

He added that “most users will only recover a fraction of their original companies. Worse, reimbursements will be based on asset prices at the time of the collapse of FTX.”

Bitcoin-mixed claims are confronted with a special check, because the reimbursements sent in Fiat equivalents are calculated using November 2022 ratings when the largest cryptocurrency per market value was traded at around $ 20,000. BTC is currently priced around $ 95,000 and has set a new high price of almost $ 109,000 in January.

This price difference has caused debate among creditors about the real valuation in bankruptcy procedures. Those who keep assets such as Solana “will still lose more steeper,” Grigo said Decrypt.

Solana (SOL) represents the largest crypto companies on FTX’s balance sheet, according to Crypto data provider Coingecko, based on judicial documents. The balance also includes holdings of FTX.US, its American entity and Alameda Research.

Part of the distribution strategy of the estate included the sale of the Sol of FTX. In three auctions until April 2024, the bankruptcy estate sold 41 million Sol -Tokens. This was carefully done by FTX “to prevent the market from crashing,” explains Grigo.

During the weekend, Solana fell 8.8% when the Libra Meme crashed after the Argentinian President Javier Milei promoted the Solana -based Activum. Milei briefly endorsed the scales -to smoke before the value evaporated, which caused millions in investors losses.

These developments come as 11.2 million Sol tokens on 1 March. That is almost $ 1.9 billion in the sixth largest cryptocurrency per market capitalization.

“If an unlocking of this scale occurs, this could increase the circulating delivery of SOL and possibly influence market dynamics. Historical examples of large token -disclosure have often led to increased price determination volatility,” said Analytics Platform -tokenomist on X, explanation about a thread how a thread relates to the distributions of FTX.

“The precise size of the unlocking and the final date are still not publicly announced by an official entity,” said the analysis company, and noted that the data on the Sol stock of FTX is not announced on its platform.

Published by James Rubin