Japanese customers whose funds were tied up on the exchange during the FTX bankruptcy process are expected to be able to withdraw their funds soon. FTX Japan and FTX Liquid, both exchanges owned by FTX, are reportedly developing systems that will enable withdrawals by mid-February.
Last Thursday, FTX Japan and Liquid announced that they would be making withdrawals available to subscribers by mid-February. Both exchanges commented:
“We are developing a system so that FTX Japan and Liquid Japan can withdraw assets from the Liquid Japan website regarding the assets entrusted by customers.”
FTX Japan Customer Moves to Liquid Platform
FTX Japan customers must open a Liquid account and transfer their assets to the Liquid platform before they can withdraw. The exchange said it plans to complete development so that withdrawals are possible by mid-February. FTX acquired Japanese coin exchange Liquid in early 2022. The acquisition also included Quoine Corp., which was one of the first exchanges to be licensed by Japan’s financial authorities in 2017.
Shortly before the takeover, Liquid Platform had $90 million worth of cryptocurrency stolen. Since then, FTX has provided $120 million in debt financing to Liquid.
Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Liquid, hacked last week, raised $ 120 million in debt financing from FTX Trading (FTX exchange operator). pic.twitter.com/Ogd6T8JTf2
— Anton Chashchin (@antont71) August 26, 2021
FTX filed for bankruptcy protection on November 11th. However, on December 1st, FTX Japan confirmed this fact with the FTX Group’s lawyers, saying, “As Japanese customers’ cash and virtual assets are regulated by Japanese law, they should not be included in the property of FTX Japan.”
The Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) issued an order to suspend operations, an order to retain domestic assets, and an order to improve business against FTX Japan in November. The order forced the exchange to suspend all customer withdrawals. FTX officially filed for bankruptcy the next day in the US.
Both FTX Exchange and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) have been charged with fraud by the US government.
FTX customers breathe a sigh of relief
FTX’s new head, John J. Ray III, noted that international clients are likely to receive less compensation in bankruptcy proceedings than U.S. clients. Liquid was founded in 2014 and was acquired by FTX earlier this year in February. FTX acquired Liquid to expand into East Asia, the size of the acquisition is unknown.
Prior to the acquisition, Liquid was the target of a massive cyberattack that resulted in the theft of over $90 million in cryptocurrency. At the time, SBF ‘s FTX offered $120 million worth of debt financing to Liquid, claiming to be the savior of struggling cryptocurrency companies.
FTX Japan will test the deposit and withdrawal functions, and will publish a schedule for customers to withdraw their balances next month. pic.twitter.com/wVfP5vtnpR
— Lin 🎉🎊 (@yousifnd) December 30, 2022
The Bahamas Securities Commission said on Thursday that it had seized $3.5 billion of FTX virtual assets, which were seized for safekeeping pending a ruling by the Bahamas Supreme Court on how to distribute the funds to FTX’s customers, debtors and others.
Upon hearing the news, FTX customers breathed a sigh of relief. As FTX filed for bankruptcy in November, FTX customers around the world were left on their toes as they were unable to withdraw their funds.
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