Advertisement

FTX Debtors Retrieve $14.5M of Political Donations

The recovered funds mark another step forward in the defunct exchange’s effort to repay creditors.
By: Jona Jaupi
FTX Debtors Retrieve $14.5M of Political Donations

FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, and its affiliated debtors have successfully recovered $14.5 million linked to political donations.

The recovered funds come from donations made during Sam Bankman-Fried's tenure as CEO, as revealed in a court filing on December 10. Notable returns include $6 million from the House Majority PAC and $3 million from the Senate Majority PAC. Other organizations, such as Forward Action Fund, Mind the Gap, and People for the American Way, each returned over $1 million. Additionally, smaller contributions were recovered from 22 other groups.

U.S. courts ordered that the funds be returned after FTX's 2022 collapse led to estimated customer losses of $8 billion and investor losses of $1.7 billion.

FTX’s retrieval efforts emphasize growing accountability within the cryptocurrency sector. Experts say the case highlights the need for transparency in large-scale political contributions and could pave the way for stricter regulations.

According to the court filing, the $14.5 million was retrieved in November and will support FTX’s goal to compensate those affected by its collapse. So far, FTX has recovered more than $16.5 billion in assets.

In October, the exchange received court approval to use those funds to fully repay customers at least 118% of their account value as of Nov. 2022, Reuters reported at the time. FTX plans to reimburse 98% of its customers — those with balances of $50,000 or less—within 60 days of the effective date of its repayment plan, which is currently slated for March 2025.

The collapse that rocked the crypto world

It has been over two years since FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 after it was revealed that its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, used customer funds to cover risky bets made by his hedge fund, Alameda Research.

In March, Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for stealing from FTX customers, though he has since appealed his conviction. Since then, U.S. government agencies have agreed to allow FTX to prioritize repaying customers over settling fines and tax obligations.

Our articles are stored on Filecoin.

Advertisement

Get an edge in Crypto with our free daily newsletter

Know what matters in Crypto and Web3 with The Defiant Daily newsletter, Mon to Fri

90k+ Defiers informed every day. Unsubscribe anytime.