Beleaguered crypto exchange FTX identified $5.5 billion in liquid assets in what CEO John Ray called a “Herculean effort” to assess the firm’s financial situation.
"We are making important progress in our efforts to maximize recoveries, and it has taken a Herculean investigative effort from our team to uncover this preliminary information. We ask our stakeholders to understand that this information is still preliminary and subject to change.” — John Ray, FTX CEO.
The debtors discovered that both FTX.com and FTX US face digital asset shortfalls. For FTX.com, debtors identified $1.6 billion in assets, but $323 million was subject to unauthorized third-party transfers post-filing, and $426 million is in the custody of Bahamas regulators. Meanwhile, $742 million is in cold storage under debtor control, with $121 million pending transfer.
| Entity | Identified Assets | Cold Storage Control | Unauthorized Transfers |
|---|---|---|---|
| FTX.com | $1.6 Billion | $742 Million | $323 Million |
| FTX US | $181 Million | $88 Million | $90 Million |
“The assets identified as of the Petition Date are substantially less than the aggregate third-party customer balances suggested by the electronic ledger for FTX.com,” the company stated. Despite this, former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has insisted that FTX US is “fully solvent” and can pay back its customers, even as he faces criminal fraud charges.