Collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX says it has recovered more than $5 billion worth of cash and crypto assets it may be able to sell to help repay customers and investors, an attorney for the company told a Delaware bankruptcy court on Wednesday.
Company advisers have identified a significant amount of crypto that it will be more difficult to sell without depressing the market price of those digital tokens, FTX attorney Andrew Dietderich said. The company is also trying to sell off other ânonstrategic investmentsâ made by FTX that have a book value of $4.6 billion, he said.
It is not yet clear how much of a shortfall FTXâs creditors will face as company advisers continue working to salvage what they can from the crypto giantâs shocking implosion in November. But the company, once one of the worldâs largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has identified more than 9 million customer accounts, Dietderich said, suggesting there will be an incredibly long line of people looking to be made whole.
Federal regulators have estimated that FTX customer losses exceed $8 billion. John J. Ray III, the corporate wind-down expert now leading the company, told lawmakers last month the company will not be able to recover all of its losses and expects the process to take âmonths, not weeks.â