FTX Advisers "Locate Over $5 Billion" In Cash, Liquid Crypto

As FTX returns to bankruptcy court today, Sullivan & Cromwell attorney Adam Landis, speaking on behalf of FTX, told a bankruptcy hearing this morning that:

"We have located over $5 billion of cash, liquid cryptocurrency and liquid investment securities measured at petition date value.

[It] just does not ascribe any value to holdings of dozens of illiquid cryptocurrency tokens, where our holdings are so large relative to the total supply that our positions cannot be sold without substantially affecting the market for the token."

The announcement substantially raises the total FTX claims it holds, after the company's new leadership said it could only find just over $1 billion on Dec. 20, 2022.

CoinDesk reports that Landis also spoke to a recently-announced cooperation agreement with the Securities Commission of the Bahamas, saying it was "an important first step to align incentives and maximize joint recoveries."

"It does not matter who collects $1 for customers, as long as the customers get it," Landis said.

"We've established a task force with the official committee of creditors and the Bahamas JPL to explore alternatives for the sale or reorganization of the international platform."

We note that Cointelegraph previously reported that FTX has $8.8 billion in total liabilities.

At the time, sources said the exchange had very little in cash and liquid digital assets, amounting to an estimated $8 billion hole in its balance sheet. 

"The amount of the shortfall is not yet clear. It will depend on the size of the claims pool and our recovery efforts. But every week, we come closer to completing the work necessary to estimate recoveries for the purposes of a plan of reorganization," Landis said.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has formed an FTX Task Force to “trace and recover” missing customer funds and handle investigations and prosecutions related to the exchange’s collapse.

John Ray must be pleased, as will be Tom Brady (and this could be good news for Gemini and Genesis with regard to potential recoveries as their public feud escalates)...

So Bankman-Fried had $5 billion lying around and he didn't... just... disappear?