Court Accepts FTX’s Request to Remove Customer Names from Bankruptcy Filings.

The bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has been granted permission by the court to delete the identities of all of its clients from all of its bankruptcy filings.

According to Reuters, Wilmington, Delaware’s US Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey has determined that disclosing the identities of specific clients could expose them to scams and identity theft.

For the first three months of 2022, the judge had already permitted FTX to keep the identities of 9 million distinct consumers a secret.

The court has authorised the company to permanently redact all consumer identities from its bankruptcy papers. 

Dorsey said that FTX should prioritise consumer safety and take precautions to prevent fraudsters from preying on them.

Additionally, the court authorized FTX to temporarily remove the names of corporations and institutional investors from its customer profiles. If the exchange wishes to retain the redactions, it must submit a new request within 90 days.

Even if the judge pointed out that FTX’s corporate and institutional investors are not at risk of identity theft, their identities could be desirable assets if the business decides to sell its client list in its entirety or pieces in the future.

The FTX bankruptcy case has been made more challenging by a protracted disagreement between the exchange’s US bankruptcy team and the liquidators overseeing the closure of FTX’s Bahamian affiliate, FTX Digital Markets. 

To avoid conflicting decisions in separate court cases in the US and the Bahamas, the judge requested Friday that both parties seek mediation and work together. 

Dorsey denied the Bahamian liquidators’ request to initiate a lawsuit against US debtors in the Bahamas courts. He added that he would anticipate a Bahamian court to disregard his orders.

FTX Bankers Are Considering Selling Their Anthropic AI Company Stake

According to a rumour earlier this week, FTX lenders are trying to sell their investment in the AI start-up Anthropic. 

According to reports, the boutique bank supervising FTX’s bankruptcy procedures, Perella Weinberg, is in talks with potential buyers about selling Anthropic’s stake.

When FTX declared bankruptcy last year, it claimed to own shares in Anthropic worth up to $500 million. However, Anthropic has recently seen tremendous development thanks to the recent AI boom and growing demand for AI solutions.   

As a result, the distribution of the nine-figure proceeds from the stock sale to former FTX clients is anticipated.

FTX and its collection of cryptocurrency businesses filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy early in November. 

Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of FTX, was later detained in The Bahamas after US prosecutors filed formal criminal charges against him.

Ultimately, he was returned to the US and released after posting a $250 million bond in a New York court. Currently, in custody, Bankman-Fried will go on trial in October.