Court filings have shown that bankrupt crypto exchange, FTX, owes money to Apple, Binance, Coinbase, Netflix, and more. The names were revealed on the extensive FTX creditor list that went public.
The 116-page document displays a host of well-known corporations and distinguishes the immense reach of FTX. Institutions, media companies, and fellow cryptocurrency exchange platforms adorn the list that did host 9.7 million redacted customer names.
Other notable firms that FTX owes money to include media companies Fox Broadcasting, Fox Sports, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Medium.com and CoinDesk, IT management company Cloudflare, crypto hedge fund Galaxy Digital, and various universities, airlines, countries, US states, and US regulatory agencies.
The names of 9.7 million customers have been redacted from the 116-page document. Last week, FTX CEO John J. Ray III, who replaced disgraced founder Sam Bankman-Fried, said the company might reboot instead of liquidating all of its assets to settle its insolvency.
Bankman-Fried is accused of misleading investors and mishandling customer funds and faces over 100 years in prison if convicted. Bankman-Fried is accused of illicitly loaning large amounts of investor funds to Alameda Research, FTX’s trading branch.
The document doesn’t disclose the amount or nature of the debt, and names of individual creditors — mostly customers who deposited funds on FTX — remain redacted at FTX’s request. Inclusion on the creditor list doesn’t necessarily mean the parties had an FTX account. FTX is believed to have more than a million creditors, the top 50 of whom are collectively owed more than $3 billion.
The crypto platform was once of the most popular crypto exchanges on the planet, fueled by celebrity endorsements and high-profile partnerships with sports teams. It marketed itself as a beginner-friendly crypto platform, allowing customers to deposit fiat currency and trade it for digital assets. But FTX came unraveled in November as speculation about its balance sheet sparked investor panic. In the midst of a liquidity crisis, the company filed for bankruptcy, leaving customers in limbo.
Federal prosecutors investigating FTX say that its founder and former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, orchestrated a massive fraud by stealing customer funds to cover losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research. They also accuse him of using stolen money to buy luxury real estate and contribute to US poltical campaigns.
Bankman-Fried, who was indicted in December and remains under house arrest at his parents’ California home, pleaded not guilty to eight criminal counts earlier this month. He has repeatedly denied committing fraud, and is scheduled to go to trial in October.
Two of his former business partners have pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges and are cooperating with prosecutors from the Southern District of New York. Both associates have implicated Bankman-Fried in the alleged crimes.
