Sam Bankman-Fried’s attorneys are revealing that billions of dollars worth of liquid assets has been recovered from bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.
According to a new report by CNBC, lawyers representing the disgraced former CEO have told a judge that $5 billion in cash, digital assets, and other securities have been recovered from FTX.
Attorney Adam Landis told the court that the $5 billion worth of recovered assets do not include any illiquid virtual currencies, adding that FTX’s holdings are so large that selling them would drive down the prices of crypto assets.
The report says that one of the reasons FTX disintegrated was because Bankman-Fried and then-CEO of Alameda Research Caroline Ellison would borrow against the value of FTT, the native asset of FTX, while controlling most of its supply in circulation, creating a scenario where they wouldn’t be able to liquidate their position at full book value.
FTX’s new chief executive, John R. Jay of Enron fame, who took the helm from Bankman-Fried late last year, previously said that at least $8 billion worth of user assets were unaccounted for in one of the worst cases of corporate control he’s ever witnessed, according to the report.
FTX disintegrated in November 2022 after its native asset collapsed and it was forced to halt customer withdrawals. Bankman-Fried is accused of defrauding investors and mishandling user funds and is facing over 100 years in prison if convicted.
Don't Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get email alerts delivered directly to your inboxFeatured Image: Shutterstock/Quardia/Sensvector