FTX Will Return $16 Billion to Customers Following Court's Bankruptcy Approval

Customers of collapsed crypto exchange FTX will soon get their money back after a judge gave the green light on Monday to the firm's bankruptcy plan, following nearly two years of recovering funds and reaching various settlements.

Judge John Dorsey in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware approved the plan to pay back former clients of the exchange using $16 billion recovered since the company collapsed, Reuters reported on Monday.

FTX was one of the best-recognized brands in the crypto space and was on a skyrocketing trajectory, but unexpectedly went bankrupt in November 2022 amid a liquidity crunch.

Co-founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested, charged and later jailed for fraud and criminally mismanaging the exchange. He is serving a 25-year prison sentence, though his lawyers recently filed an appeal claiming that he was "presumed guilty" going into the trial.

Customers who used the exchange to buy, sell, or bet on the future prices of cryptocurrencies have been waiting to get their funds back since the firm filed for bankruptcy. 

The plan approved Monday will pay the vast majority of customers at least 118% of the U.S. dollar value in their accounts as of November 2022.

Customers were initially expecting to get back digital assets but the plan—filed in May—will pay them back in cash. Some investors have been upset that they will not be repaid with their original crypto assets, some of which (like Bitcoin) have significantly appreciated in value over the last two years.

Bankman-Fried is serving a 25-year prison sentence, though his lawyers recently filed an appeal claiming that he was “presumed guilty” going into the trial.

Edited by Andrew Hayward

Editor's note: This story was updated after publication with additional details.