A U.S. bankruptcy court judge has granted FTX permission to sell its cryptocurrency assets, according to a filing dated Sept. 13.
That order says that FTX is authorized, but not directed to, carry out certain crypto transactions and sales. It also indicates that those sales must be conducted through an investment advisor or manager or by further order of the court.
The order imposes weekly limits on investment adviser sales. FTX can sell $50 million of crypto per week during the initial sale period. It can raise that weekly limit to $100 million with increases one week at a time after that initial period, with written approval from involved parties. It may also be able to permanently increase the weekly limit to $200 million at a later date, though this will require a later court order.
Additionally, the order imposes restrictions on sales of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), as well as some “insider-affiliated tokens.” FTX will need to provide ten business days’ notice of those sales, and certain parties will be able to object to some sales.
Other provisions
In accordance with its earlier motion, FTX will also be able to enter hedging arrangements — that is, buying and selling agreements — involving Bitcoin and Ethereum. The company will be able to hedge those cryptocurrencies with prior approval and will be able to pay any associated fees without further court approval.
The order also allows FTX to stake its cryptocurrency holdings through qualified custodians and through those custodians’ private validators.
It prohibits FTX from selling its FTT token without a further court order. It also bars FTX from selling assets to insiders, other debtors, and non-debtor affiliates.
Finally, the order requires FTX to produce regular reports on its cryptocurrency transactions and holdings until a Chapter 11 plan comes into effect.
FTX’s original filing indicates that it intends to sell and hedge crypto assets in order to compensate former investors. By liquidating its crypto, the company plans to avoid price fluctuation and risk and provide greater fiat compensation to creditors.
Recent reports indicate that FTX has about $7 billion of assets, including $3.4 billion of cryptocurrency. Reports from June suggest that the company owes about $8.7 billion to its creditors, including corporate and individual customers.
