In 20-page presentation, new FTX CEO alleges $415 million in cryptocurrency was hacked

Lawyers and advisors for the bankrupt cryptocurrency company FTX have revealed that approximately $415 million in cryptocurrency was hacked from accounts on the firm’s platform.  This represents a sizable portion of the $5.5 billion in assets that FTX is trying to recover.

The news came during a 20-page presentation by lawyers and advisors of FTX.  The presentation provided an accounting of the firm’s assets and where possible recoveries of assets could be made, which could ultimately be used to pay debtors.

The presentation noted that the $415 million figure above includes $323 million in unauthorized transfers by third parties from the international arm of FTX, $90 million from the US division of FTX and $2 million from Alameda Research’s hedge fund.  Given the volatility of cryptocurrency assets, the stolen blockchain assets were worth $477 million at the time of the hack.

John J. Ray III, who is serving as FTX CEO while the firm goes through the bankruptcy process, said, “We are making important progress in our efforts to maximize recoveries, and it has taken a Herculean investigative effort from our team to uncover this preliminary information.”  He added, “We ask our stakeholders to understand that this information is still preliminary and subject to change. We will provide additional information as soon as we are able to do so.”

Advisors for FTX are also looking into a $2.1 billion payment for a share repurchase to Binance in 2021.  Although Binance was FTX’s first external investor, embattled FTX founder Sam Bankman-Friend reacquired Binance’s stake in his firm in 2021.