FTX Sells LedgerX for $50 Million

Wednesday, 26/04/2023 | 05:40 GMT by Arnab Shome
  • FTX bought LedgerX in 2021 for $298 million.
  • It is a CFTC-regulated crypto derivatives exchange.
LedgerX

FTX and its debtors announced on Tuesday the sale of its crypto derivatives exchange subsidiary LedgerX to M7 Holdings, an affiliate of Miami International Holdings (MIH), for a total consideration of about $50 million.

FTX Offloads LedgerX to Miami International Holdings

Miami International Holdings is a US-based exchange conglomerate owning several trading platforms. It holds a US license to operate a commodities exchange and acquired the Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX) in 2020. Now, the acquisition of LedgerX will allow the company to enter crypto trading.

The debtors of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange will receive the proceeds from M7 Holdings, which won the bankruptcy auction for the purchase.

“We are pleased to reach this agreement with MIH, which is an example of our continuing efforts to monetize assets to deliver recoveries to stakeholders,” said John J. Ray III, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Restructuring Officer of the FTX Debtors.

Liquidating FTX Assets

FTX purchased Ledger Holdings, the parent company of LedgerX, through its American subsidiary, FTX US, in 2021 in a reported deal for $298 million. LedgerX is a crypto derivatives exchange with three licenses from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), allowing it to list futures contracts for commodities, provide clearing services and broker futures trades. FTX rebranded the platform to FTX.US Derivatives.

In addition, LedgerX’s holding company owned crypto hedge fund LedgerPrime, which returned external capital last September.

Despite being owned by the tainted firm, FTX, LedgerX operated independently with limited exposure to its parent. According to Coindesk, LedgerX generated trading and clearing revenue of $1.2 million in 2022 and posted a negative EBITDA of $17 million.

FTX's management sought the court’s approval to sell LedgerX and three other subsidiaries, its European and Japanese entities, and the equities trading platform Embed Technologies. It argued that all of these platforms, acquired recently by FTX, are facing regulatory backlash despite minimum exposure to the parent, and they need to be sold to retain their value. The US court granted permission to sell all four entities in January.

While LedgerX got a buyer, the other three FTX subsidiaries are still available for purchase. However, FTX debtors did not publicly announce any bidding auction for them.

Meanwhile, the Japanese and European subsidiaries of FTX resumed withdrawals for their customers. FTX Japan revealed that $50 million was withdrawn from the platform within hours of the withdrawals being resumed. However, FTX Europe did not post any figures.

FTX and its debtors announced on Tuesday the sale of its crypto derivatives exchange subsidiary LedgerX to M7 Holdings, an affiliate of Miami International Holdings (MIH), for a total consideration of about $50 million.

FTX Offloads LedgerX to Miami International Holdings

Miami International Holdings is a US-based exchange conglomerate owning several trading platforms. It holds a US license to operate a commodities exchange and acquired the Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX) in 2020. Now, the acquisition of LedgerX will allow the company to enter crypto trading.

The debtors of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange will receive the proceeds from M7 Holdings, which won the bankruptcy auction for the purchase.

“We are pleased to reach this agreement with MIH, which is an example of our continuing efforts to monetize assets to deliver recoveries to stakeholders,” said John J. Ray III, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Restructuring Officer of the FTX Debtors.

Liquidating FTX Assets

FTX purchased Ledger Holdings, the parent company of LedgerX, through its American subsidiary, FTX US, in 2021 in a reported deal for $298 million. LedgerX is a crypto derivatives exchange with three licenses from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), allowing it to list futures contracts for commodities, provide clearing services and broker futures trades. FTX rebranded the platform to FTX.US Derivatives.

In addition, LedgerX’s holding company owned crypto hedge fund LedgerPrime, which returned external capital last September.

Despite being owned by the tainted firm, FTX, LedgerX operated independently with limited exposure to its parent. According to Coindesk, LedgerX generated trading and clearing revenue of $1.2 million in 2022 and posted a negative EBITDA of $17 million.

FTX's management sought the court’s approval to sell LedgerX and three other subsidiaries, its European and Japanese entities, and the equities trading platform Embed Technologies. It argued that all of these platforms, acquired recently by FTX, are facing regulatory backlash despite minimum exposure to the parent, and they need to be sold to retain their value. The US court granted permission to sell all four entities in January.

While LedgerX got a buyer, the other three FTX subsidiaries are still available for purchase. However, FTX debtors did not publicly announce any bidding auction for them.

Meanwhile, the Japanese and European subsidiaries of FTX resumed withdrawals for their customers. FTX Japan revealed that $50 million was withdrawn from the platform within hours of the withdrawals being resumed. However, FTX Europe did not post any figures.

About the Author: Arnab Shome
Arnab Shome
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Arnab is an electronics engineer-turned-financial editor. He entered the industry covering the cryptocurrency market for Finance Magnates and later expanded his reach to forex as well. He is passionate about the changing regulatory landscape on financial markets and keenly follows the disruptions in the industry with new-age technologies.

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