The administrator of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX will sell 41 million of its tokens valued at $7.65 billion for about $60 per Solana, a 68% discount to institutional investors, Cointelegraph reported. Based on current market prices.
According to FTX creditor Sunil Kavuri during the sentencing process against FTX co-founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) on March 28, the exchange’s bankruptcy did not result in all customers being compensated. Kavuri claims: “Sullivan & Cromwell (FTX bankruptcy lawyers) trampled on our property rights. They liquidated billions of dollars in crypto assets. There was a token S&C that was sold for 11 cents and is now trading at $2. FTX owns $10 billion in Solana tokens and they sold them at a 70% discount."
According to Kavuri’s previously filed victim impact statement, FTX creditors claim that the FTX estate “owns 41.1 million Solana tokens that should be distributed to FTX creditors. They plan to sell them for $60, compared to today’s price of $187.” Although the creditors Claiming so, presiding judge Lewis A. Kaplan reiterated that the March 28 hearing was solely for the purpose of ruling on SBF and not to raise issues related to creditor claims. Judge Kaplan said: "I accept your submission that it is inaccurate to claim that the client will be fully compensated."
At least one investor appears to have confirmed the discounted sale. Canadian blockchain company Neptune Digital Assets announced on March 27 that it had purchased 26,964 SOL at a price of $64 per token, a discount of 67% compared to the market price at the time. Although the company did not specify the counterparty, the terms of sale matched those offered by FTX Legacy.
According to a March 7 Bloomberg report, the lock-in period for purchasing discounted SOL tokens is four years. In parallel with the bankruptcy proceedings, FTX creditors filed a class action lawsuit against Sullivan and Cromwell, claiming that the firm participated in FTX's fraud before becoming the exchange's bankruptcy attorney. Prior to the collapse, FTX was an early investor in the Solana ecosystem.
