On Monday (February 20), FTX’s Japan unit announced that customers would be able to withdraw deposits of fiat currency and crypto assets beginning on Tuesday. This action comes after months of inaction. FTX Japan stated that its customers could withdraw assets via the website of Liquid Japan, a cryptocurrency exchange it purchased in February of last year.
FTX, once the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, declared bankruptcy in 2022
FTX, once the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, declared bankruptcy in 2022. Its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, is being tried in the United States on fraud charges. Bankman-Fried appeared in court in Manhattan last week. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges of fraud.
Prosecutors asked US District Judge Lewis Kaplan to bar Bankman-Fried from using the internet except to review the evidence against him or use email on his Gmail account, citing his use of a virtual private network (VPN) that could have allowed him to conceal some online activity.
Kaplan had already barred Bankman-Fried from contacting current or former employees at his now-defunct exchange and hedge fund, as well as from using encrypted messaging apps like Signal that allow users to auto-delete messages. Prosecutors said Bankman-Fried attempted to contact FTX’s current CEO, John Ray, and an in-house lawyer. Defense attorneys have stated that the attempts to contact FTX officials were made to assist, not to interfere.
