The United States Court has ordered the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX to pay $12,700,000,000 to former customers and fraud victims

A US court has ordered FTX, an insolvent crypto exchange, to provide $12.7 billion in monetary relief to consumers who experienced losses during the company’s collapse in 2022.

In a recent statement, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that the order necessitates FTX to pay $8.7 billion in restitution and $4 billion in disgorgement to provide additional compensation to those who were harmed by the exchange’s fraudulent scheme.

The CFTC filed a fraud complaint against FTX, its founder Sam Bankman-Fried, and former company administrators in December 2022. The complaint alleged that the individuals in question had misappropriated customer funds for their own use and benefit.

The regulator asserts that the order concludes its litigation against the exchange; however, it acknowledges that the case remains unresolved for Bankman-Fried and former FTX executives Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh.

Additionally, the order mandates that FTX and its sibling company, Alameda, collaborate with the CFTC in its ongoing litigation. The development is commendable, but CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam emphasizes that additional efforts are necessary.

“As I have been emphasizing for years, this is merely the top of the iceberg.” Entities will persist in operating in the shadows without these fundamental instruments of sound regulation, refining their deceptive practices and continuing to deceive customers, in the absence of digital asset legislation to fill regulatory gaps.

The Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware has approved a related settlement in which the CFTC has agreed to refrain from pursuing a civil monetary penalty against FTX and to prioritize the monetary claims of the victims.

According to a report from May, the bankruptcy estate of FTX anticipated that it would possess between $14.5 billion and $16.3 billion in proceeds by the conclusion of September.

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