FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) said on Jan. 17 that FTX.US is solvent, adding that customers should be given access to funds.
SBF was responding to new revelations by FTX management about the shortage of its US subsidiary.
According to SBF, this claim is “misleading” as it does not consider the $428 million in the exchange’s bank account as assets. He claimed that FTX.US has at least $111 million, about $400 million in excess cash, matching the balances of his customers.
SBF said in his substack report Management has not defined the types of assets it has determined to be “substantially low” nor has it identified whether non-US dollar balances are included in customer balances.
For context, SBF said FTX.US Derivatives (LedgerX) holds $250 million in segregated bank accounts aimed at pushing regulatory capital. According to SBF, the funds in his bank account are over $181 million, which he said management found as of the date of the petition.
FTX management made a “meaningless comparison” by not including bank balances as part of the bankruptcy’s company assets.
SBF concluded:
“S&C claims that FTX US has shortfalls. ($428 million in bank accounts and $181 million in tokens) backed by customer balances of approximately $199 million FTX US was solvent when handed over to S&C and is almost certainly still solvent today.”
