Customers with claims up to $50,000 will receive refunds in the coming days through BitGo and Kraken.
FTX has initiated the first phase of reimbursements to its customers. According to the company’s announcement on February 18, the first recipients will be members of the “convenience class,” meaning those who filed claims of up to $50,000. Payments will be processed within the next one to three business days, with a total of $1.2 billion to be distributed.
John J. Ray III, the plan administrator of the FTX recovery trust and CEO of FTX Debtors, stated:
“We are pleased to commence initial distributions today and set the timeline for our next distribution. We appreciate our customers and creditors’ patience and collaboration throughout this complicated process. Our work is not over – we intend to continue our recovery efforts and return funds to additional claim classes.”
FTX’s bankruptcy plan, approved by a Delaware judge last October, ensures that 98% of creditors will receive at least 118% of their claim value in dollars. The next round of distributions is scheduled for April 11, with funds accessible via BitGo and Kraken.
However, the plan has sparked criticism, particularly from Sunil Kavuri, a representative of the largest group of FTX creditors. He has argued that payments should be made in cryptocurrency rather than in dollars at the 2022 value when the exchange declared bankruptcy.