# FTX Was Never Really Bankrupt

Source: https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/ftx-never-really-bankrupt-can-make-creditors-and-customers-whole-by-ian-ayres-and-john-donohue-2024-01
Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/FTX-Was-Never-Really-Bankrupt?index=0x65b583563b826c2c734096a10eaf64785f824420d4873d63c12416faf81ea2ba5764b1f6
Submitted by tim on 2024-01-27 UTC, 4 upvotes, 1 comment

## Summary

FTX had sufficient assets to make its creditors whole all along, a claim that would likely change public perception of founder Sam Bankman-Fried. The prosecution at his trial stressed customer losses above $8 billion but never substantiated that figure. Bankman-Fried was convicted last November on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy, with prosecutors saying he stole "billions of dollars" from customers "out of sheer greed."

## Article

Innovation

The prosecution in Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial drilled into the jurors’ heads that FTX customer losses exceeded $8 billion, but never substantiated that claim. In reality, the crypto exchange had sufficient assets to make creditors whole all along – a fact that would likely change the public’s perception of its founder.

NEW HAVEN/STANFORD – Last November, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s closely watched criminal trial ended with his conviction on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. According to the prosecution, Bankman-Fried stole “billions of dollars” from the crypto exchange’s customers “out of sheer greed.”

## Comments

**tim**: > Since last August, the market value of FTX’s crypto holdings has grown by about $5 billion. This has been largely driven by the five-fold increase in the market value of Solana, FTX’s largest holding, as well as a 50% increase in its remaining top ten tokens.

that‘s so nuts