TechFlow news: SBF claimed that customers did not lose funds in FTX's 2022 collapse, but current CEO John J. Ray III says this is incorrect.
He stated that when he took over, FTX was nearly out of money—customers held claims to nearly 100,000 bitcoins, but the exchange had only 105 bitcoins left. Although some assets have been recovered, Ray noted that significant portions are gone, including "hundreds of millions of dollars" spent on bribing Chinese officials and SBF’s various investments and purchases of access to celebrities and politicians.
Although there are now plans to return funds to customers, many FTX customers remain "very dissatisfied" with the valuation of their holdings, as refunds will be based on portfolio values at the time of bankruptcy, not today's higher market values.
