FTX says crypto worth $415 million hacked, Bankman-Fried refutes claims
Crypto exchange FTX, that has declared itself bankrupt, has told creditors in a report that about $415 million in cryptocurrency had been stolen in hacks. It said Tuesday that while it recovered over $5 billion in crypto, cash and liquid securities, significant shortfalls at both its international and US crypto exchanges still remain.
Blaming the shortfall to hacks, FTX said that $323 million in crypto had been hacked from FTX’s international exchange and $90 million from its US exchange since it filed for bankruptcy on November 11.
However, indicted founder Sam Bankman-Fried challenged certain portions of the company’s report in a blog post.
He wrote that the company’s lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell had presented an “extremely misleading” picture of the company’s finances and that the company has more than enough money to repay US customers.
According to him, the customers are owed anywhere between $181 million and $497 million. Bankman-Fried doesn’t have access to FTX records since stepping down as CEO in November.
Notably, he is accused of stealing billions of dollars from FTX customers to pay debts incurred by his crypto-focused hedge fund, Alameda Research. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges, and he is scheduled to face trial in October.
Sullivan and Cromwell have declined to comment on the matter. A court filing by the attorneys says that Bankman-Fried’s efforts to stay involved in the company’s bankruptcy proceedings were turned down by the firm.
FTX further informed that it had recovered $1.7 billion in cash, $3.5 billion in liquid cryptocurrency and $300 million in liquid securities.
“We are making progress in our efforts to maximize recoveries, and it has taken a Herculean investigative effort from our team to uncover this preliminary information,” attorney and CEO of the firm John Ray said in a statement.
The crypto assets recovered to date include $685 million in Solana, $529 million in FTX’s proprietary FTT token and $268 million in bitcoin, based on crypto prices on Nov. 11, 2022.
(With inputs from agencies)
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