Travis Kling News

The bankrupt crypto exchange FTX is facing escalating legal and advisory costs, recent filings submitted by the exchange’s bankruptcy advisors have revealed.

The world’s largest stablecoin issuer, Tether, has reportedly expanded its Bitcoin holdings by acquiring an additional 8,888 BTC. This latest purchase cost a whopping $380 million.

Binance’s $4.3 billion settlement with the United States was the final hurdle before the country’s securities regulator approves spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), many industry watchers claim.

«The worst day of my career, and one of the worst days of my life — the day FTX froze withdrawals,» is how Travis Kling, who runs Ikigai Asset Management, described it in a series of tweets on Nov. 7. Four days later, Sam Bankman-Fried's exchange filed for bankruptcy, ushering in arguably the darkest days in crypto's history. «The first weeks were incredibly brutal. I didn't sleep much at all. Feelings of terror, guilt and shame. We laid off most of the team,» Kling wrote. A year on, the industry is irrevocably altered — while at the same time in many ways rem arkably familiar. Mostly gone are the giddy day traders and the abundant leverage that drove Bitcoin to its November 2021 high at close to $69,000. Same for celebrities and social-media influencers peddling nonfungible tokens and memecoins. Regulators determined not to get caught off guard again are tightening their grip. And large financial firms like BlackRock Inc. are moving in, drawn by the prospect of the US Securities and Exchange Commission giving its first blessing for an ETF investing directly in Bitcoin.

Failed crypto exchange FTX has announced an updated plan for sending 90% of distributable funds—money it has recovered—to former customers in its bankruptcy proceedings, but that doesn't necessarily mean they will get back 90% of the money they lost.FTX is expected to file the proposal in a U.S. bankruptcy court by Dec. 16.

The crypto asset manager Ikigai has admitted that it held “a large majority” of its assets on the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX, saying it “got very little out” before the collapse. But the company is far from only one with exposure to Sam Bankman-Fried’s once-mighty empire.