The users of FTX Japan withdrew roughly 6.6 billion yen (around $50 million) within a day of resuming withdrawals through the web platform of Liquid Global, the officially published figures revealed.
FTX Japan Users Are Rushing for Withdrawals
FTX Japan resumed withdrawals last Wednesday, more than three months after suspending all services, including deposits, withdrawals, and trading. Users of the Japanese subsidiary of the collapsed crypto exchange now need to confirm their account balances and transfer them to a Liquid account.
The crypto exchange moved funds for 7,026 account holders on Wednesday, only nine hours after resuming the withdrawals. Out of the total, 5,697 transactions involved cryptocurrency withdrawals, while 1,947 were fiat withdrawals.
According to an NHK report, FTX Japan had roughly 19.6 billion yen (more than $138 million) in cash when it ceased operations in November. In addition, it had roughly 9 million users. The official numbers show that the Japanese exchange is still holding around $90 million by the end of 22 February.
FTX Japan customers need to open an account on Liquid’s web interface to process withdrawals. On top of that, Liquid Japan is a locally licensed cryptocurrency exchange that FTX acquired last April.
The Funds of Other Subsidiaries Are Stuck in Bankruptcy Process
Once one of the largest crypto exchanges, Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX empire collapsed last November, as FTX and its 134 global affiliates filed for bankruptcy in the United States. While FTX Japan’s customers are now allowed to withdraw their funds, the cryptocurrencies and fiats belonging to users of other FTX subsidiaries are stuck in a lengthy bankruptcy process.
Meanwhile, FTX’s administrators are fighting to control about $3.5 billion worth of cryptocurrencies that the financial markets regulator in The Bahamas currently holds. These cryptocurrencies belong to FTX customers.
While the bankruptcy process is ongoing, the management of FTX received court permission to sell FTX Japan and three other FTX subsidiaries, CFTC-regulated derivatives exchange LedgerX LLC, the equities-trading platform Embed Technologies, and FTX Europe. All of these four entities operated independently from the tainted parent. Japan’s Kanto Local Finance Bureau suspended the local license of FTX Japan until 9 March 2023.
Bankman-Fried, once hailed as an altruistic crypto billionaire and now fortune hitting almost zero, is facing criminal charges in the United States. He pled “not guilty,” however, two of his top executives did plead guilty to the US criminal charge against them and are cooperating in the investigation against the complex FTX empire.
