Key takeaways:
- Insolvent cryptocurrency exchange FTX has returned to its previous owners after settling a dispute over its European division.
- Robin Matzke and Patrick Gruhn, the startup’s founders, retaliated by demanding $256.6 million from FTX, disputing the accusations.
Insolvent cryptocurrency exchange FTX has returned to its previous owners after settling a dispute over its European division.
FTX agreed to return FTX Europe to its founders for $32.7 million, according to a Reuters report published on February 24. This suggests that FTX was having trouble finding other purchasers. In 2021, Digital Assets AG, a Swiss firm that subsequently changed its name to FTX Europe, was purchased for $323 million.
FTX tried to recoup the money invested in the acquisition before agreeing to the sale. The exchange filed a lawsuit, claiming the purchase price was a “massive overpayment” and that the purchase was financed with consumer finance.
Robin Matzke and Patrick Gruhn, the startup’s founders, retaliated by demanding $256.6 million from FTX, disputing the accusations. It was finally resolved on February 21, according to Reuters.
The Chapter 11 file that FTX made in the US in November of 2022 included FTX Europe. Following the division’s bankruptcy, many cryptocurrency exchanges made an attempt to purchase it in an effort to gain some of FTX’s local market share.
In November 2022, after its parent company’s disastrous event, American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase made two attempts to purchase FTX Europe: in September 2023 and again in November 2022. Blockchain companies Trek Labs and Crypto.com also expressed interest.
The company was only in the area for eight months. After filing for bankruptcy, FTX Europe opened a website in March 2023 where consumers in Europe may request withdrawals for the first time.
With intentions to completely reimburse its clients for billions of dollars, FTX is nearing the end of its bankruptcy process. On February 22, the corporation was given authorization to sell nearly $1 billion worth of shares in Anthropic, an artificial intelligence company, in order to raise money for its creditors.
