FTX considers reopening of cryptocurrency exchanges

Holds approximately 970 billion yen in assets

A lawyer for the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX testified at a hearing held in the Delaware bankruptcy court on the 12th. It reports that FTX currently holds approximately ¥970 billion ($7.3 billion) in assets and is considering reopening the exchange.

According to FTX attorney Andy Dietderich, assets recovered by FTX are valued at around ¥820 billion ($6.2 billion) following the recent rise in cryptocurrency prices. Combined with cash and liquid cryptocurrencies, total assets total more than $7.3 billion, an increase of more than ¥110 billion ($800 million) since January.

It also said it is negotiating with parties about the option of reopening the cryptocurrency exchange in the future and may make a decision about it this quarter (April-June).

However, it did not elaborate on how FTX customer assets frozen by FTX will be handled when it reopens.

FTX is in talks with the official committee of unsecured creditors about the possible reopening of the exchange.

Dietderich said the funds needed to reopen the exchange will come from third-party investments or some of the $7.3 billion worth of cash, cryptocurrency and other assets FTX has collected to date. He said it was also possible.

FTX’s funds cannot be moved until FTX receives final approval from the courts to repay creditors. Dietderich said court approval is unlikely in 2023.

According to Dietderich, currently only Japanese FTX customers can withdraw funds across the FTX group. It is said that it is because the virtual currency regulation in Japan is robust.

FTX Japan Co., Ltd., a Japanese subsidiary of FTX, has resumed withdrawal services for legal currency (Japanese yen) and virtual currency from February 21.

connection: “Return of Customer Assets” Interview with FTX Japan COO Seth Melamed

According to FTX, a Swiss court today allowed its European business, FTX Europe, to consider a potential sale of its business following a US bankruptcy court-approved bidding process.

What is FTX

Since its establishment in 2019, it has rapidly made a name for itself and has grown into a major exchange after Binance, the largest exchange in the industry. It went bankrupt after that and filed for bankruptcy in the United States in November.

Cryptocurrency Glossary

Interim report of defense team

FTX’s legal team released an interim report on the 9th. Once again, it highlighted the sloppiness of the exchange’s management system.

According to the report, FTX Group did not have proper finance, accounting, human resources, information security, cyber security personnel or leadership, and had no functioning internal audit. The board of directors was also virtually unsupervised.

In addition, while virtually all cryptocurrencies were stored in hot wallets, one employee was instructed to answer “10% in hot wallets and 90% in cold wallets” when questioned by an outsider. He testified that

In addition, private keys were improperly managed, such as allowing access by many employees without using multisig.

What is multisig

Refers to a mechanism or technology in which a transaction cannot be executed without signing with multiple “private keys”. Abbreviation for “multi-signature”, which combines “multi” representing “multiple” and “signature” representing “signature”. Security can be improved because even if one private key is leaked, transactions cannot be made without another private key. The number of signatures required is expressed as “2 of 3” or “2/3”, which means “2 out of 3 private keys must be signed”.

Cryptocurrency Glossary

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