FTX Bankruptcy Estate Hits Out Over ‘Unauthorized’ Sale of FTX EU on Backpack Exchange
The FTX bankruptcy estate is disputing the recently announced sale of FTX EU to Backpack, the cryptocurrency exchange and wallet firm founded by former FTX employees and Alameda.
The FTX estate said Backpack “has not been involved in any process approved by the US Bankruptcy Court for the return of funds to any FTX customers and other creditors,” and a press release about the sale from Backpack on Monday was issued without notice or FTX involvement.
The backpack revealed plans to repay FTX EU’s creditors, as well as setting out how it plans to operate a regulated crypto derivatives service using the licenses acquired in the sale.
“Backpack has not authorized FTX to make any distributions to any FTX customers or other creditors, including any former FTX EU customers,” the FTX bankruptcy estate said in its statement.
In March of 2024, the FTX bankruptcy court approved the sale of FTX EU to Patrick Gruhn and Robin Matzke, the co-founders of Digital Assets, a firm acquired by Sam Bankman Fried in 2021; Gruhn and Matzke stayed on to lead FTX’s European expansion.
In an attempt to clarify the situation, Backpack said that it bought FTX EU from Gruhn and Matzke, a transaction that has also been completed and can be seen in official public records since June 2024, and was approved by CySec, the financial regulator of Cyprus.
“As a licensed entity, the transfer of FTX EU entity is subject to regulatory approval by CySec. In December 2024, CySec approved the purchase of Backpack following a lengthy due diligence process. Following such approval, the FTX estate is obligated to transfer the shares as set forth in the court-approved sale and purchase agreement. We look forward to completing the transition so that, like the FTX bankruptcy estate, we can begin returning customer funds to former FTX EU customers,” Backpack said in a statement released Thursday.
FTX EU will be renamed Backpack EU and Backpack EU will be solely responsible for the redistribution of former FTX EU customer funds, Backpack said.
The former boss of FTX EU, Patrick Gruhn, said that in May of last year he started the change of control proceeding for the subsidiary of FTX EU Ltd. with CySEC, which is required to transfer shares of regulated Investment Firms.
“In this very complicated Bankruptcy process, I assume FTX would like to clarify that FTX has no direct relationship with Backpack and will not distribute funds from the US bankruptcy estate. However, FTX EU will be renamed Backpack EU and of course the former FTX EU funds will be distributed to clients,” Gruhn said via email.
