The now bankrupt FTX still had $ 1.4 billion in cash on its balance sheet at the end of 2022, according to a new update on the financial health of the exchange platform. That number is about 19 percent higher than the $1.2 billion previously talked about in November 2022, when FTX filed for bankruptcy.
The bankrupt FTX group of crypto companies held $1.43 billion in cash at year-end and saw headcount drop almost 40% https://t.co/rwtVonIc0L
— Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) February 1, 2023
$260 million for FTX US
It is striking that FTX US, among others, still had more than $ 260 million in cash in the treasury at the end of 2022. Sam Bankman-Fried had been calling for some time that the American branch of the exchange platform was financially healthy and had everything it takes to support its users. fully refundable.
Last month he blogged that FTX US “had at least $111 million in assets and likely $400 million in cash in addition to the amounts needed to repay customers.” However, that amount doesn’t quite match the $260 million in cash reported in the latest financial update.
In that sense, it remains to be seen whether FTX US was indeed as healthy as Bankman-Fried claimed. Earlier he also lied about the financial health of the entire company, because just before the implosion of the stock market, he said that all entities had enough cash to pay everyone back.
In court in October
As for Bankman-Fried’s sentence, we have to wait a few more months. His lawsuit in the United States is not scheduled until October 2023. Even then it can take months, if not years, before a court ruling is reached.
All in all, however, it seems impossible that Bankman-Fried can avoid a long sentence. After all, it has already been confirmed from multiple sources that his exchange platform and his trading firm Alameda Research used customer funds to make risky investments.
The savings of millions of people have been misused and destroyed in this way. For that group it is to be hoped that a significant part will return, but to what extent that is possible and how long it will all take remains to be seen.