What to know:

  • FTX bankruptcy estate says the sale of FTX EU to crypto exchange and wallet firm Backpack was not authorized.
  • Backpack responded by saying that in December 2024, the Cyprus regulator approved Backpack’s purchase of FTX EU following a lengthy diligence process.

The FTX bankruptcy trust is challenging the recent news about FTX EU being sold to Backpack, a crypto exchange and digital wallet company established by ex-employees of FTX and Alameda.

As an analyst, I’d rephrase it this way: I, as an analyst, want to clarify that Backpack has no role whatsoever in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court-sanctioned process for returning funds to FTX customers and creditors. It’s important to note that a press release regarding the sale from Backpack, published on Monday, was not authorized or overseen by FTX.

1) Backpack has revealed its intention to repay FTX EU’s creditors and also detailed its strategy for running a licensed cryptocurrency derivative service, utilizing the permits obtained during the acquisition process.

According to the FTX bankruptcy team’s announcement, they have not received permission from FTX to distribute anything to FTX users or other creditors, even those who were previously part of FTX EU.

In March of 2024, the bankruptcy court overseeing FTX’s case gave approval for the sale of FTX EU to Patrick Gruhn and Robin Matzke, who are the co-founders of Digital Assets, a company that Sam Bankman Fried purchased in 2021. After the acquisition, Gruhn and Matzke continued to lead the charge as FTX expanded its operations into Europe.

To provide clarity, Backpack stated they acquired FTX EU from Gruhn and Matzkeon in a deal finalized since June 2024, as evidenced by official public records. This transaction has also gained approval from CySec, the regulatory body for finance in Cyprus.

Since FTX EU is a licensed entity, its transfer required approval from CySec (Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission). In December 2024, after a thorough review process, CySec granted approval for the acquisition by Backpack. Once this approval was received, the FTX estate became legally bound to transfer the shares according to the court-approved sales and purchase agreement. In their statement released on Thursday, Backpack expressed excitement about the pending transfer, stating that once completed, they can begin returning funds to previous FTX EU customers, similar to what the FTX bankruptcy estate is doing.

In simpler terms, the name FTX EU is changing to Backpack EU, and it’s been assigned the task of managing and distributing funds that belonged to previous FTX EU customers, as stated by Backpack.

Previously, Patrick Gruhn (former head of FTX EU) started a process in May of last year known as a “change of control” with CySEC regarding FTX EU Ltd., a subsidiary. This procedure was necessary for the transfer of the shares of the regulated Investment Firm.

In the intricate Bankruptcy case, it appears that FTX aimed to clarify that FTX does not have a direct association with Backpack and will not disburse funds from the U.S. bankruptcy estate. Yet, FTX EU will be rebranded as Backpack EU and will certainly distribute the previous FTX EU funds to its clients,” Gruhn stated in an email.

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2025-01-09 09:26