John Ray, the new CEO of FTX, revealed that the bankrupt crypto exchange wants to sell or restructure its global empire, despite the tussle between Bahamian regulators and the company in court filings.
He said many regulated or licensed subsidiaries of FTX, within or outside the United States, have solvent balance sheets, responsible management, and valuable franchises. Ray shared that it’s a priority in the coming weeks to explore sales, recapitalizations, or other strategic transactions in regard to the subsidiaries and others that the company has identified.
In Saturday morning filings in Delaware bankruptcy court, FTX has sought permission to pay outside vendors, consolidate bank accounts and establish new ones. The exact timing of a possible sale remains unclear. Ray said FTX has not set a specific timetable for the completion of this process. Moreover, the company doesn’t want to reveal further developments unless and until it establishes that further disclosure is appropriate or necessary.
It should be noted that FTX and Bahamas securities regulators are looking for jurisdiction over the bankruptcy process in two different U.S. courts. Bahamian regulators had last week moved hundreds of millions of digital assets from FTX custody into their own. Ray pointed out that LedgerX was one of the few FTX-related properties that are not part of its bankruptcy proceedings and remains operational to date. FTX acquired LedgerX in 2021 wherein traders can buy options, swaps, and futures on Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Meanwhile, FTX’s lawyers want to employ a cash pooling system to merge all the cash assets of each disparate FTX entity into one consolidated balance statement and in new bank accounts, which the company will open soon.
