Eighteen months ago, the house of cards of the American crypto exchange FTX collapsed. The now convicted CEO Sam Bankman-Fried also dragged the savings of Belgians into his fall. On Thursday it emerged that sufficient cash had been collected during the settlement of the bankruptcy to repay victims. There is even interest provided. Three Belgians, with whom HLN spoke in 2022, respond to the news. “I never thought anything would come of it.”
It is a major financial windfall. Eighteen months ago, there was still an $8 billion gap in FTX’s accounting.
The sale of properties will allow bankruptcy attorneys to pay out up to $16.3 billion to a range of creditors. The payout plan still needs to be approved.
“I never thought I had completely lost it”
That is excellent news for Jan*, for example. The sixty-year-old, who works in healthcare, lost approximately 30,000 euros due to the collapse of FTX. “I was also working on it this morning,” he tells us when we call him with the happy news. “I of course registered as a creditor in every possible way at the time.”
He did not expect that there would even be any surplus money. “It’s great, but still needs to be approved, of course. If the proposal is approved, I would be reimbursed at 118 percent within 60 days,” says Jan.
This will be done in US dollars. The crypto coins from a year and a half ago are permanently lost. “And they are currently worth three to four times more than they were then.”
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This news is not a big surprise for Jan. “I always thought I was going to get something back, but it was unclear when and how much. There are similar bankruptcies where it took ten years before payments were made.”
The amount of 30,000 euros tied up with FTX was actually intended as part of an inheritance for Jan’s daughters. They can now breathe a sigh of relief, even though it was not a major topic in the house. “We are not talking about it at the moment. The idea was that if something comes of it: good. If nothing comes of it: well, nothing can be done about it.”
“I think it’s a shame now”
Thirty-something Tim* lost approximately 1,000 euros to the FTX bankruptcy. He didn’t let it get to his heart. “I had accepted that that money was lost. I never thought we would ever get anything back,” he says now.
Tim had never registered as a victim. “I think that’s a shame now,” he admits. Since the incident, he has completely left the world of bitcoin and ethereum behind him. “I have completely ignored investing in crypto since then. I am now more concerned with traditional investing.”
“That would be a fantastic investment!”
Forty-something Mark* had already heard of the good news when we called him. Because the payout plan has yet to be approved, he remains wary. “I don’t know if I will get the amount of 5,500 euros back in full.”
But if the vote turns out well, the professional manager is satisfied. “That would be a fantastic investment, if we get an 18 percent increase in a year and a half!” says Mark, laughing on the phone.
US authorities are expected to give their blessing in September. The FTX saga could therefore be over for a large number of victims this year. “I would like to thank all customers and creditors of FTX for their patience during this process,” John J. Ray III, the new CEO of the bankrupt crypto company, said in a press release.
* Jan, Tim and Mark are pseudonyms. They chose to testify anonymously so that they could tell their story without negative consequences. Their identities are known to the editors.
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Tags: Belgians affected bankruptcy crypto exchange FTX thousands euros return fantastic investment News
