Defunct crypto exchange FTX begins to repay customers—but they’ll only get back a fraction of their crypto holdings

The FTX collapse that rocked the crypto world in late 2022 is trending toward a happy ending—for some investors, at least. This week, FTX’s bankruptcy estate began repaying customers who lost their assets after the platform’s bankruptcy—a resolution that once seemed impossible.

On Tuesday, the FTX bankruptcy estate released $1.2 billion to affected customers with claims totaling less than $50,000. This initial distribution is the first step in a lengthy repayment plan, which could end up distributing a total of Bitcoin was worth $17,000 at the time of FTX’s collapse but is now trading at $96,000, an 82% increase.

Either way, the repayments have been viewed as a welcome financial reprieve by those who thought they would never see their FTX funds again. Sunil Kavuri, an FTX creditor turned activist who lost $2 million in the collapse, has yet to receive his funds but celebrated the initial distribution as a turning point in the yearslong battle.

“It has been a long and difficult 2.5yrs with suicides, depression, divorces… I am grateful and it has been a privilege to fight and represent FTX customers,” he wrote on X.