A judge overseeing the FTX bankruptcy proceedings has given the crypto exchange permission to sell off some of its assets in order to repay creditors. The assets that will be sold include the CFTC-regulated derivatives exchange LedgerX LLC, the equities-trading platform Embed Technologies, FTX Japan Holdings, and FTX Europe.
Investment bank Perella Weinberg has been tasked with beginning the sale process. According to a court filing on January 8, Perella Weinberg partner Kevin Cofsky claimed that around 117 parties had expressed interest in purchasing the assets, and will now have access to information about them as part of their due diligence.
According to the filing, interested parties must submit non-binding preliminary bids for the asset they are interested in acquiring, with a January 18 deadline for Embed, a January 25 deadline for LedgerX, and February 1 deadlines for both FTX Japan and FTX Europe.
Lawyers representing FTX began seeking permission to sell the four entities on December 15, 2022, citing concerns about the potential for value loss. FTX Europe’s licenses are currently suspended, and FTX Japan has also been subject to business suspension orders.
To date, FTX has reportedly recovered around $5 billion in cash, cryptocurrencies, and liquid investments in securities, according to FTX lawyer Andy Dietderich. However, the total amount of the customer shortfall remains unclear.
The FTX restructuring team has faced some difficulties as it attempts to navigate some of the firm’s more complex investments in DeFi. On-chain data shows that roughly $72,000 in Aave Wrapped BTC was lost, for example, when the team tried to move funds into a multi-sig wallet owned by Alameda Research.
