FTX Japan Might Soon Allow Fund Withdrawals to Its Clients

The latest Bloomberg report states that the Japanese subsidiary of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX is working to facilitate withdrawals of their funds. If so, this would be a rare case of investors getting their money back from a collapsed exchange.

FTX Japan had first suspended the withdrawals on November 8, three days before the exchange filed for bankruptcy. As per the FTX Japan website, the FTX Trading management team has decided to resume withdrawal services. But before that, the firm is working on a security audit, incorporating controls, reconciliation, and reviews.

Since the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX, Japanese regulators have been seeking a roadmap and timeline to return the customer funds as soon as possible. After the verification process is complete, FTX Japan customer balances will move to the Liquid platform. From here, customers can withdraw their funds.

FTX Japan K.K. currently holds $46 million in fiat currency and $94.5 million in crypto assets, in client accounts. FTX Japan said that Japanese customers’ digital assets and customer cash shouldn’t be a part of FTX Japan’s estate. On this basis, the local unit will resume withdrawal services for its customers.

FTX Japan also said that its management team is in constant touch with the regulators. They added that the private keys of all asset-segregated wallets are kept offline and completely under the control of Japan’s operations team.

FTX Founder SBF Claims Innocence

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been making public appearances despite this massive collapse of his crypto empire. SBF recently gave his first network interview with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos, adding that he feels the burden of not having done enough to save FTX.

Claiming innocence, SBF said that he’s not the villain. He added:

“A lot of people look at you and see Bernie Madoff,” Stephanopoulos said. “I don’t think that’s who I am at all,” Bankman-Fried responded. “But I understand why they’re saying that. People lost money. People lost a lot of money.”

In his latest series of tweets, SBF also expressed surprise over the halt of withdrawals in FTX US.