FTX Abandons Plans to Relaunch Crypto Exchange, Commits to Full Repayment of Customers and Creditors

Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has scuttled plans to relaunch, but has also declared its intention to fully repay its customers and creditors, marking a significant shift in its insolvency resolution approach.

Bloomberg reports that FTX, once a major player in the cryptocurrency exchange market, has made a major announcement in the wake of its bankruptcy proceedings. During a court hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, the company has committed to fully reimbursing its customers and creditors and abandoned plans to relaunch the exchange.

FTX’s lawyer, Andrew Dietderich, commented: “I would like the court and stakeholders to understand this not as a guarantee, but as an objective. There is still a great amount of work, and risk, between us and that result. But we believe the objective is within reach and we have a strategy to achieve it.”

In addition to this repayment plan, FTX has also decided to discontinue efforts to restart or sell its crypto exchange. This decision was based on the realization that the costs involved in reviving the platform were prohibitively high. The team overseeing FTX’s restructuring conducted an exhaustive search for potential investors to restart FTX.com, but the financial requirements for a revival proved too steep.

Since declaring bankruptcy, FTX has been actively working to locate assets and untangle a complex web of debts. This includes obligations to various creditors and customers who had invested cash and cryptocurrency on the trading platform. By the end of 2023, FTX’s four largest affiliates had nearly doubled the group’s cash reserves, reaching $4.4 billion, up from approximately $2.3 billion in late October.

The company’s appearance in court also involved seeking approval for a process to determine the owed amounts to each creditor and customer. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey ruled that the size of each claim would be based on the amount owed on the day FTX filed for bankruptcy. Judge Dorsey clarified that bankruptcy rules necessitate tying a company’s debts to the date of its court protection filing.

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