image source, Getty Images
- author, joao da silva
- role, business reporter
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Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX says it has billions of dollars more than it needs to repay customers.
The company said selling its remaining assets would leave it with up to $16.3 billion (about £13 billion) to cover its debt of around $11 billion.
Under the company's new restructuring plan, nearly all customers will receive at least the amount they lost in the November 2022 collapse of FTX.
In March, FTX co-founder Sam Bankman Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for defrauding the bankrupt company's customers and investors.
“We are pleased to be in a position to propose a Chapter 11 plan that allows for the repayment of 100% of the bankruptcy debt, plus interest to non-governmental creditors,” said John Ray, FTX's new chief executive officer. Stated.
The plan still needs approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
FTX said it is raising money to pay its debt by selling asset investments held by its Alameda Research and FTX Ventures businesses.
Alameda was a virtual currency trading company managed by Bankman Freed.
FTX added that the rise in cryptocurrency prices since the company went bankrupt has not provided a significant boost to its financials. The exchange announced that nearly all of the bitcoin and other digital currencies it believed to have been held at the time of the collapse are missing.
The price of Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, has risen about 270% since the company filed for bankruptcy more than a year and a half ago.
FTX was one of the largest crypto platforms in the world before its collapse.
Bankman Fried enjoyed celebrity status and his platform attracted millions of customers.
After reports that FTX was in trouble, customers withdrew billions of dollars from FTX, leading to the company's implosion and exposing the extent of Bankman Freed's crimes.
