A U.S. court has mandated the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX to distribute $12.7 billion to its customers, as announced by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Thursday.
In March, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried received a 25-year prison sentence for misappropriating $8 billion from clients.
The CFTC detailed that the court’s directive includes $8.7 billion in restitution and $4 billion in disgorgement, aimed at compensating victims for their losses from the extensive fraud perpetrated by Samuel Bankman-Fried.
Previously, FTX had agreed to a bankruptcy liquidation plan to reimburse customers whose assets were frozen following the exchange’s collapse in late 2022.
FTX has assured its customers of a full recovery on their claims based on the account values from when the bankruptcy was filed.
This CFTC settlement clears a significant hurdle, confirming that the government’s legal actions against FTX will not impede the availability of funds for customer repayments.