FTX News: $5B of Assets Recovered

The latest FTX news could be positive for customers, investors, and lenders – $5B of assets, such as liquid cryptocurrency, liquid investment securities, and cash, have been recovered, according to Andy Dietderich, an FTX attorney.

Dietderich revealed this information to Judge John Dorsey in a Delaware bankruptcy court. The recovered assets do not include those confiscated by the Securities Commission of the Bahamas – where the crypto exchange is headquartered and former FTX boss Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was located at the time of his arrest.

FTX news: who has been named in court filings?

Celebrities such as American football legend Tom Brady, Brazilian fashion model Giselle Bündchen (Brady's former wife), and CEO of the Kraft Group, Robert Kraft, were among those named in the hearings.

Most of FTX's investors and customers facing unfortunate losses have not been mentioned in court filings. At the time of writing, an estimated $8B of customer funds is missing (factoring in the latest recovered funds).

FTX news: a timeline of events

Here is a timeline of events involving the cryptocurrency exchange and SBF:

• On 11 November, 2022, FTX, valued at $32B just a year ago, filed for bankruptcy.

• On 12 December, 2022, SBF was arrested in the Bahamas and extradited to the US.

• On 13 December, 2022, US federal prosecutors announced eight criminal charges against SBF, including campaign finance violations, money laundering, and wire fraud. This includes allegations of using customer funds to settle debts at his crypto trading firm, Alameda Research, and indulging in other investments.

• Co-founder of FTX Gary Wang and former head of Alameda Research Caroline Ellison (SBF's rumoured ex-girlfriend) have also been charged over their purported role in FTX’s calamitous downfall.

• On 22 December, 2022, SBF was released on a $250M bail bond – one of the largest in US history.

• SBF, who was once worth $26B, pleaded ‘not guilty’ to each criminal charge against him.

In an interview with BBC news before his arrest, Sam Bankman-Fried claimed he had "unknowingly" committed fraud. He did not want the events that unfolded to happen and admitted to being "not nearly as competent" as he thought.