FTX may soon rise from its ashes. The CEO in charge of the bankruptcy proceedings is indeed planning to relaunch the cryptocurrency exchange platform. This hypothetical FTX 2.0, acclaimed by Sam Bankman-Fried, would aim to reimburse all customers ruined in the implosion of the exchange.
Bankrupt since November, the FTX empire has been taken over by attorney John J. Ray III. With 40 years of experience, he was responsible for overseeing the company’s bankruptcy proceedings and ensuring the recovery of assets on behalf of creditors. For the record, the exchange owes money to over a million entities and individuals.
Despite the spectacular debacle of the firm, John J. Ray III is seriously considering resurrect platform cryptocurrency exchange, FTX.com. During an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the new CEO explained that a working group on the subject has been set up. According to him, the platform still has potential, despite the fraudulent activities perpetrated by the former leaders. For the lawyer, it is the disastrous financial management and the excessive expenses of the persons in charge who have tainted the potential of the company.
“Everything is on the table. If there is a way forward on this, then we will not just explore it, we will.”says John J. Ray III.
By relaunching the exchange, the lawyer hopes to raise enough funds to reimburse all customers harmed by FTX’s collapse. He undertook to examine this option. The other solution is to resell all company assets, as well as the exchange platform, and to return the amount of the sale to the investors. At this point, bankruptcy attorneys are still pondering the best way forward.
“There are stakeholders we work with who have identified what they consider to be a viable business”assures the lawyer.
While considering the reopening of FTX, John J. Ray III continues to collect the funds belonging to the exchange, and dispersed by the SBF teams on several wallets. By going through more than 30 terabytes of data, the forensic teams of the courts have also got their hands on $5 billion in assets and a $4.6 billion investment portfolio.
READ ALSO: Former FTX.US CEO Reveals The Truth About Sam Bankman-Fried
Sam Bankman-Fried hails potential FTX comeback
Under house arrest awaiting his trial, Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and former CEO of FTX, quickly took to Twitter to welcome the solution envisaged by John J. Ray III. For once, the two men are visibly on the same wavelength, SBF hints sarcastically:
“I’m glad Mr. Ray is finally pretending to reactivate the exchange after months of ruining such efforts!” “.
I’m glad Mr. Ray is finally paying lip service to turning the exchange back on after months of squashing such efforts!
I’m still waiting for him to finally admit FTX US is solvent and give customers their money back…https://t.co/XjcyYFsoU0https://t.co/SdvMIMXQ5K
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) January 19, 2023
A few weeks earlier he had already raised the idea of relaunching FTX in December, just before his arrest. To accompany the return of the exchange, SBF recommended issuing a new FTT token. This cryptocurrency would be offered to all creditors as reimbursement. By betting on the rise in the price of this token, the 30-something believes that it is possible that investors can generate profits.
The former billionaire claims that FTX would have escaped disaster if he hadn’t filed for bankruptcy. He claims to have received several financing offers intended to solve the company’s liquidity crisis shortly after the bankruptcy. In his eyes, it would have taken a few weeks to recover the funds of all users. This is why he opposes the operations carried out by John J. Ray III, with the support of the American courts, since November.
At the same time, Sam Bankman-Fried continues to deny some of the findings made by the teams of John J. Ray III. According to him, the American branch of FTX is solvente, and always has been. He urges the new management of the company to reimburse customers as soon as possible. For his part, John J. Ray III ensures that the remaining assets of FTX.US are “ significantly lower than the total customer balances”.
Stunned by the practices of Sam Bankman-Fried, the lawyer preferred cut ties with the founder of FTX. According to John J. Ray III, this ” didn’t say anything that I don’t already know”. He believes that SBF’s comments regarding the alleged last-minute rescue of the platform are unnecessary and selfish. Annoyed, the ex-billionaire replied that the lawyer ” pretends to care about customers”.
“Mr. Ray continues to make false claims based on non-existent calculations,” SBF tackle.
A bad idea ?
Unsurprisingly, the prospect of FTX’s resurrection gave a boost during the FTT, the utility token whose value crashed in November. Within hours of the release of John J. Ray III’s interview, FTT price soared above $2, up 40%. The token even approached $2.50.
Despite investor euphoria, many observers find it hard to believe the reboot of the FTX platform. Asked by CoinTelegraphLeigh Travers, CEO of Binance Australia, estimated that the exchange will struggle to regain customer trust. According to him, investors have migrated to other services, such as Binance, and do not intend to go back. Same observation on the side of Liam Hennessy, partner of the Australian law firm Gadens, who fears that FTX 2.0 will not be able to obtain the approval of the regulators.
wall street journal
