CFTC agrees to withdraw claims against FTX for $12,7 billion

What’s new? The new managers of the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX reached an agreement with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on a lawsuit in which the regulator demanded that the platform pay multibillion-dollar fines for fraud. Following negotiations that lasted several months, the regulator agreed to drop the claims.

Material by The Block

What else is known? In 2022, the CFTC demanded from the exchange to pay fines for $52,2 billion, later the amount was reduced to $12,7 billion. FTX noted that the CFTC is its largest creditor in the bankruptcy case.

However, as a result of negotiations, the CFTC dropped its claims on the condition that the exchange would stick to its plan to compensate customers. Thus, an additional $12,7 billion could be distributed to FTX users if the exchange’s managers are able to raise those funds through the liquidation of various assets.

The agreement must also be approved by the court, the hearing will be held on August 6.

In June, FTX managed to reach a similar agreement with the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The regulator agreed to reduce the amount of claims from $24 billion to $885 million, while it will receive only $200 million in priority, and another $685 million will be available after compensation is paid to clients and investors.

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FTX declared bankruptcy in November 2022, an investigation found that top management embezzled and misappropriated $8 billion in client assets. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried received 25 years in prison for fraud, while his colleague Ryan Salame was sentenced to 7,5 years for violating campaign finance laws.

Other former managers, including Gary Wang, Nishad Singh and Caroline Ellison, will appear in court later this year.

FTX is currently run by court-appointed restructuring expert John Ray. In May, he revealed a restructuring plan under which creditors with claims up to $50 000 (about 98% of creditors) would receive at least 118% of their compensation, subject to court approval of the document.

The plan was criticized by users because it provides for payment in cash rather than cryptocurrency at the cryptocurrency exchange rates at the time of bankruptcy, even though most asset rates have doubled or more since then. A vote on the plan is due by August 16.

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The FTX bankruptcy was a black swan event: most did not expect the collapse of one of the most hyped and largest trading volume platforms, leading to the collapse of the broader crypto market and subsequently a prolonged crypto winter.

FTX collapsed more than a year and a half ago, even then “pulling” a number of companies and blockchain projects, but at the end of last month it became known about another “victim” of the exchange. Thus, the crypto investment platform Yield App on June 28 announced its closure and liquidation. It suffered losses on its portfolio, the assets from which were blocked on FTX and embroiled in protracted bankruptcy proceedings.