FTX hearing: Creditors’ anonymous request is temporarily approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, lawyers disclose financial chaos and say they will pursue responsibility

PANews reported on November 23 that according to PR Newswire, The Block and other media reports, at a hearing held in the Delaware Bankruptcy Court in the United States, all first-day motions related to the Chapter 11 application filed by the FTX debtor on November 11, 2022 have been approved. This includes a preliminary request to maintain the anonymity of creditors in this case, but pointed out that more information about the company's creditors may be made public in the near future. John J. Ray III, the new CEO and Chief Restructuring Officer of FTX, said: "After the court approved the first-day motion, we are moving our work forward as quickly as possible to maximize value for all FTX stakeholders. We will continue to work hard to implement the necessary controls and secure and organize the company's assets. As we review our business, we have begun to receive interest from potential buyers for our assets, and we will conduct an orderly process to reorganize or sell FTX assets around the world for the benefit of stakeholders.

At the hearing, FTX lawyers said that a large amount of FTX's crypto assets were either missing or stolen, because the run on customer deposits and liquidity crunch triggered a leadership crisis and led to its rapid collapse. SBF's mismanagement of FTX gave the lawyers very limited knowledge of the company's financial situation, and said that SBF operated FTX as his own personal territory and did not really give up control of FTX until November 11. The subsequent work will identify the billions of dollars transferred through FTX, begin to recover assets that can be saved, and file lawsuits against anyone responsible for the loss of customer funds.

In addition, FTX lawyers also stated that FTX executives have been in contact with the U.S. Department of Justice and are coordinating with the U.S. government and various regulators. He also warned that FTX is still facing the threat of hackers, noting that a hacker attack occurred within hours of the initial bankruptcy filing and that the company has taken steps to protect its remaining assets. FTX lawyers also stated that FTX is seeking simpler ways to notify creditors about bankruptcy proceedings, such as using email instead of traditional mail, and that "there must be millions" of people being notified.