Bankrupt FTX mulls reopening as recovered assets hit $7.3bn

Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, is considering reopening at some point in the future, its lawyers from Sullivan & Cromwell, said during a court hearing on Wednesday.

According to Coindesk, the lead attorney for FTX, Andy Dietderich, also told the court that they’ve recovered $7.3 billion in liquid assets from the defunct exchange, up from $1.9 billion reported in January.

The bankruptcy hearing was at a court in Delaware, United States of America.

Reports said that one potential option discussed was to let FTX’s creditors convert a portion of their holdings to a stake in a reopened exchange.

Dietderich said, “There are possibilities that customers could have the option to take part of their proceeds that they would otherwise receive in cash from the estate and receive some kind of an interest in the exchange going forward.”

However, the attorney stressed that the possibility of restarting FTX is one of many and that decisions have not been finalised.

“There are as many opinions on this, I think, as there are professionals involved in this case. And that’s a lot.”

Following the news, FTX’s FTT token more than doubled in price.

FTX had collapsed last November and its ex-leader, Sam Bankman-Fried, was indicted on allegations of fraud and conspiracy for allegedly stealing billions in FTX customer funds to plug losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research, conspiring to violate campaign finance laws and bribing Chinese authorities.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges.