FTX Japan users will be able to start withdrawing funds from February

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The FTX logo on a laptop screen.

Andrei Rudakov | Bloomberg via Getty Images

Japanese FTX users will be able to start withdrawing their funds from the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange from February, according to a statement from the company’s Japanese subsidiary.

FTX Japan said Thursday it was developing a system to resume withdrawals through the website of Liquid Japan, a crypto exchange it acquired earlier this year. Customers will be able to check their balance on Liquid Japan and then withdraw their funds.

“We deeply apologize for causing great concern and inconvenience to our customers due to the long-term suspension of service,” the company said in a Japanese-language blog post on its website, which has been translated. viaGoogle.

FTX Japan has established a timeline for restoring client funds, starting with opening a Liquid Japan account in mid-January, then transferring assets from FTX Japan to Liquid Japan and reopening withdrawals at the mid February.

This comes after FTX Japan said on Dec. 1 that it had confirmed to FTX Group lawyers that “cash and cryptocurrency from Japanese clients should not be part of FTX Japan’s estate considering how these assets are held and proprietary interests under Japanese law”.

The news offers some relief to FTX customers. FTX customers around the world have been unable to access their money since the company went bankrupt last month and blocked withdrawals. FTX’s new acting head, John J. Ray III, said the company’s international customers should expect to get less from the bankruptcy court than US customers.

Founded in 2014, Liquid was acquired by FTX in February for an undisclosed amount as part of its expansion into East Asia. Prior to that, it had been hacked for over $90 million worth of crypto in a major cyberattack. Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX, which had billed itself as a savior to beleaguered crypto firms, then provided Liquid with $120 million in debt funding.

Separately on Thursday, the Bahamas Securities Commission said it had seized $3.5 billion in crypto assets from FTX “for safekeeping” and was awaiting instructions from the country’s Supreme Court to return the funds to clients and creditors. , or to the liquidators.

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