[１１日 ロイター] – FTX, a crypto asset exchange (virtual currency), announced on the 11th that it has filed for Article 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (the equivalent of Japan’s Civil Rehabilitation Law). CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has resigned.
FTX said in a statement on Twitter that about 130 companies would be subject to bankruptcy law, including Bankman-Fried’s personal investment firm, Alameda Research. Alameda Research owes FTX about $10 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
Some investors, including SoftBank and Sequoia, had already pulled out of FTX.
FTX will follow an orderly transition under John J. Ray, who has been named to replace Bankman-Fried. In a series of Twitter posts, Bankman-Fried expressed his hopes for the new CEO, saying, “I apologize for this situation,” and that filing for bankruptcy “doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the company.”
“Filing for bankruptcy is a necessary step in assessing the situation and developing plans to benefit our stakeholders,” Wray said in a memo to FTX employees obtained by Reuters. “Filing bankruptcy is the start of a journey forward,” he said. .
As for FTX, the world’s largest crypto asset (virtual currency) exchange Binance withdrew its policy to acquire the non-US business unit of FTX Trading “FTX.com” on the 9th. FTX is scrambling to secure about $9.4 billion in funding from investors and peers amid liquidity pressures, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.
After the announcement of FTX, the crypto asset (virtual currency) Bitcoin fell 5.7% to $16,524.
The FTX token, FTT, plunged 34% to $2.43. It is down 89% for the week.
FTX is being investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Bankman-Fried is 30 years old. Two months ago, he had a net worth of about $17 billion, according to Forbes estimates.
Bankman-Fried did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
