An interim financial update revealed that the FTX Group of companies undergoing bankruptcy proceedings held $1.43 billion in cash at the end of last year.
The court filing viewed by Bloomberg showed a higher cash balance on 31st December 2022 than a $1.24 billion tally as of 20th November.
- Its now-defunct sister trading company, Alameda Research, recorded a cash balance of $876.6 million versus $401 million in November.
- Furthermore, the employees of the embattled group fell to 195 by year-end from 320 when FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States.
- Its former Chief, Sam Bankman-Fried, pleaded not guilty to fraud charges levied against him by regulators in the country. He was released on a $250-million bail bond that was secured by his parents’ Palo Alto-area home.
- FTX’s new owners are working on unwinding the affairs of as many as 134 entities across the world.
- Meanwhile, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) claimed that Bankman-Fried attempted to contact and potentially “influence” the witness testimony of FTX US General Counsel Ryne Miller via the encrypted messaging app Signal.
- This led the prosecutors to file a motion that amended the disgraced founder’s bail conditions to prevent contact with FTX employees and the use of applications like Signal.
- Bankman-Fried also tried to organize an in-person meeting with its current CEO, John Ray, in recent weeks, according to the text and email messages released by the prosecutors.
- The events that transpired after the FTX blow-up significantly damaged the crypto market, as well as the sector’s reputation. Regulators across the world are now pushing for establishing more guardrails to protect against investor harm and risk of contagion.