FTX has recovered $7.3B in assets, will consider rebooting exchange

Sam Bankman-Fried’s failed cryptocurrency exchange filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 and has since been mired in court proceedings.

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX may be considering restarting in the future, according to the legal team behind the debtors.

In an April 12 hearing in United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, lawyers with Sullivan & Cromwell representing FTX said the crypto firm had recovered roughly $7.3 billion in liquid assets. A March filing from the debtors reported the four FTX company silos had roughly $4.8 billion in scheduled assets as of November 2022, with an investigation into the assets ongoing.

According to the legal team, FTX will also consider restarting its crypto exchange operations sometime in the second quarter of 2024 — suggesting a reboot as early as April. FTX CEO John Ray was reportedly mulling reviving the bankrupt exchange in a January interview.

This is their "aspirational" yet "sensible" calendar for the debtors' plan pic.twitter.com/OFAievluZk

— Molly White (@molly0xFFF) April 12, 2023

The price of the FTX Token (FTT) surged from $1.32 to $2.80 at roughly the same time lawyers announced the potential reboot of the exchange — an increase of more than 112%. The token price had largely stayed between $1 and $2 since the firm’s bankruptcy filing.

Related: SBF says Sullivan & Cromwell contradicted itself with insolvency claims

The bankruptcy court proceedings followed the debtors’ announcement that a Swiss court had granted a petition allowing the sale of FTX Europe AG — the firm’s European arm. FTX Europe AG, along with 133 other subsidiaries, were part of FTX’s Chapter 11 filing in U.S. bankruptcy court in November 2022.

Magazine: Can you trust crypto exchanges after the collapse of FTX?

Update (April 12 at 6:17 PM UTC): An earlier version of this article said FTX would consider rebooting in the second quarter of 2023, which was incorrect. The correct year is 2024.