BitFlyer plans to acquire FTX Japan for billions of yen. Is FTX turning around?

Japanese exchange BitFlyer plans to acquire all shares of FTX Japan for billions of yen

According to Japanese media NHK, citing sources, Japanese exchange BitFlyer is planning to acquire all shares of FTX Japan with a budget worth billions of yen and reshape FTX Japan into a digital asset management or custody company for institutional investors.

Selling subsidiaries to raise funds to repay creditors, FTX Japan has completed user asset repayment

Since its collapse in November 2022, FTX's restructuring team has been raising funds to repay creditors by selling subsidiaries such as FTX Japan, FTX Europe, LedgerX and Embed. FTX Japan suspended services after bankruptcy, but has repaid user assets due to asset isolation.

After the news of the acquisition came out, FTX's token FTT briefly rose 1.1% within an hour, then fell back, and is currently trading at $1.52. Although BitFlyer may change its name and not support FTT, the price trend of the token is still difficult to predict.

FTX creditors are unhappy with cash compensation

FTX proposed to repay creditors in cash instead of cryptocurrency, which sparked dissatisfaction among creditors. On June 14, FTX victims filed a document with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, claiming that FTX's frozen assets belonged to customers, not the bankrupt entity, and sought a court ruling. They believe that it is unfair to repay claims based on the then-depressed cryptocurrency prices, as prices have soared since FTX filed for bankruptcy.

25-year prison sentence for former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried

FTX's former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison in March, and SBF regretted but shirked responsibility.

While admitting his mistakes, he claimed that there was no intentional harm or fraud against FTX customers:

"I never thought that what I did was illegal. I am haunted every day by what I lost. I never thought of hurting anyone or taking anyone's money."

SBF also expressed sympathy for his company's former customers:

"I have heard and seen the desperation, frustration and betrayal of thousands of customers. They should be paid in full at the current price."

Yet his responses have all been about deflecting blame for the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange in November 2022, attributing it to “bad decisions” rather than selfish motives.

His statement to ABC echoed the sentiments expressed before the sentencing, stressing that FTX could have weathered the storm and repaid customers.

The US lists $300 million worth of Alameda as “government assets”

On June 8, blockchain data analysis platform Arkham Intelligence issued an unexpected announcement, revealing that $300 million previously seized from Alameda Research by the US government has been marked as US government assets. Coingape reported that the disclosure raised questions about the future treatment of these assets and their potential impact on the cryptocurrency market.

Arkham Intelligence stressed that as part of the seizure of more than $700 million in assets from FTX and Alameda, the US government seized funds totaling more than $300 million from three Alameda Research accounts on Binance and Binance.US in January 2023.

The confiscated assets include:

• $119.3 million in USDT

• $102.38 million in BTC and WBTC

• $28.35 million in BNB

• $26.26 million in ETH and WETH

• $13.62 million in BUSD