- FTX’s Japanese unit plans to let customers withdraw their funds by the end of this month.
- The bankrupt exchange has asked its clients to confirm their account balances ahead of the withdrawals.
- The return of funds will be managed through an FTX owned platform called Liquid.
- Plans to resume withdrawals in February were initially announced in December 2022.
The Japanese subsidiary of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX plans to begin returning customer funds by the end of this month. If successful, the Japanese unit would become the first of Sam Bankman-Fried’s failed crypto empire to return funds to its customers.
FTX Japan will process withdrawals through Liquid
According to a report by Bloomberg, the Japanese unit plans to facilitate the return of funds through a platform called Liquid, which is owned by the bankrupt exchange. The company’s Chief Operating Officer Seth Melamed said in an interview that the customers have been asked to confirm their account balances and transfer their funds from FTX Japan to Liquid Japan. The COO said that withdrawals would begin “very soon.”
“Re-enabling withdrawals at FTX Japan in a transparent, fair, and accurate manner has been a shared goal for our entire team. We are confident we will adhere to the timeline”
Melamed revealed that his team was working around the clock on this plan. The company plans to resume withdrawals once it has sufficient data on the balance migration to Liquid Japan and relevant approvals. The bankrupt exchange has reportedly been beta testing and optimizing the process since the beginning of this month. The process involved collecting feedback to ensure seamless withdrawals for its remaining 35,000 users.
In a roadmap released by Liquid Japan in December last year, February was announced as the target month to begin processing withdrawals for customers. The timeline was subject to change depending on the progress of ongoing external security audits at the time. The exchange had suspended withdrawals in November 2022 to the liquidity issues at its parent firm. As part of the U.S bankruptcy proceedings, FTX Japan was put up for sale. The exchange had announced in December that customer funds would not be included in the company’s estate, in line with Japanese regulations.
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