FTX Owes Over $3B to Top 50 Creditors, Liquid Pauses All Trading
- New bankruptcy court filings revealed that FTX owed its top 50 creditors around $3 billion, with sums ranging from $21 million and $226 million.
- Japanese crypto exchange Liquid, which was acquired by FTX in May, suspended all trading on its platform only five days after pausing crypto and fiat withdrawals.
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Troubled cryptocurrency exchange FTX owes more than $3 billion to its top 50 creditors, with the single largest claim being $226 million, court documents filed with the bankruptcy court for the district of Delaware revealed on 20 November.
Last week, FTX filed more than 100 dockets for various companies that would participate in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy process, revealing that FTX Group’s creditors could number more than 1 million. The new bankruptcy court filings show that the top 50 creditors — whose identities were not revealed — are owed $3.1 billion, with sums ranging between $21 million and $226 million. The document reads:
“The Top 50 List is based on the Debtors’ currently available creditor information, including customer information that was able to be viewed but is not otherwise accessible at this time. The Debtors’ investigation continues regarding amounts listed, including payments that may have been made but are not yet reflected on the Debtors’ books and records. The Debtors are also working to obtain full access to customer data.”
On the same day, Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Liquid — which was acquired by FTX back in May — announced it had suspended all trading operations on its platform following instructions from FTX Trading. The suspencion comes only five days after the company paused all fiat and crypto withdrawals, citing regulatory compliance with FTX’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy process.
In the meantime, the individual behind the $447 million FTX hack has continued to swap his stolen Ether (ETH) for renBTC, and bridging his assets over to the Bitcoin blockchain using the Ren BTC Gateway. Blockchain security firm PeckShield noted earlier today that the hacker’s wallet contained 185,735 ETH (worth around $207 million), making him the 43rd largest ETH holder.
- The IRS filed its claims against FTX under the “Admin Priority” classification, which could allow it to supersede the claims of other creditors in the bankruptcy case.
- The largest of the claims is against Alameda Research LLC, with the IRS claiming around $20 billion in partnership taxes and close to $400 million in payroll taxes.
Former CEO of FTX Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the Federal Court in New York after pleading not guilty, 3 January, 2022.
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- The cryptocurrency exchange is estimated to have more than 100,000 creditors, and between $500 million and $1 billion in both assets and liabilities.
- The Chapter 11 filing came less than a month after the U.S. SEC filed charges against Bittrex and its former CEO, claiming they were operating an unregistered securities exchange.
- Genesis, its parent company Digital Currency Group, the Unsecured Creditors Committee, and Gemini have all agreed to a 30-day mediation process.
- Although supportive of the process, Gemini expressed the “need for urgency” for a final resolution to be reached “as soon as possible”.