FTX: Collapsed crypto giant recovers over $5bn of assets

According to an attorney for the firm, the assets of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX total more than $5 billion (£4.1 billion).

However, a US bankruptcy court was informed on Wednesday that the extent of customer losses is still unknown.

Prosecutors have charged FTX’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried with masterminding a “epic” fraud that could have cost investors, customers, and lenders billions of dollars.

Mr. Bankman-Fried has pled not guilty to charges of defrauding investors.

“We have located over $5 billion in cash, liquid cryptocurrency, and liquid investment securities,” FTX attorney Andy Dietderich told US Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey in Delaware.

Mr Dietderich stated that the recovered funds do not include assets seized by the Bahamas Securities Commission, where FTX was based, and Mr. Bankman-Fried was living at the time of his arrest.

The majority of FTX’s customers and investors who have suffered losses have not been identified in the hearings.

However, Tom Brady, his ex-wife Gisele Bündchen, and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft were named in court documents.

The 30-year-old was arrested in the Bahamas in December and extradited to the United States. He is accused of carrying out “one of the largest financial frauds in US history.”

On November 11, FTX, which was valued at $32 billion a year ago, filed for bankruptcy protection. It is estimated that $8 billion in customer funds went missing.

Federal prosecutors in the United States have accused Mr. Bankman-Fried of misappropriating funds from FTX customers in order to pay debts at his cryptocurrency trading firm Alameda Research and make other investments.

Prosecutors announced eight criminal charges in December, including wire fraud, money laundering, and violations of campaign finance laws. Mr. Bankman-Fried has also been sued by financial regulators.

FTX co-founder Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda, have also been charged in connection with the company’s demise. Authorities stated that both parties were cooperating with the investigation.

Mr. Bankman-Fried was released from detention in late December on $250 million bail on the condition that he did not leave his parents’ home in California.

He told BBC News in an interview before his arrest: “I did not intend to commit fraud. I don’t believe I cheated anyone. None of this was something I wanted to happen. I was clearly not as capable as I thought I was.”

READ ALSO: Second batch of classified Biden documents found