FTX tries to reclaim $11M from Crypto.com-controlled Alameda account

Alameda Research, one of the sister firms connected to defunct crypto exchange FTX and a party to its bankruptcy case, is seeking to recover more than $11 million in a Crypto.com account held since 2022. 

In a Nov. 7 filing in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Alameda filed a complaint to “recover at least $11.4 million in debtor assets contained in a Crypto.com exchange account” controlled by the company. The firm requested an order from the bankruptcy court “directing Crypto.com to turn over to the Debtors the assets” that were not of “inconsequential value.”

According to Alameda, the firm opened an account under the name Ka Yu Tin before FTX declared bankruptcy in 2022. However, Alameda alleged that Crypto.com locked the account once FTX filed for Chapter 11 and has since “refused to cooperate with the Debtors’ requests and continues wrongfully to withhold the Debtors’ property.”

Notably, the filing included a declaration from former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, who is currently serving time in a Connecticut prison for her role in FTX misusing customer funds. The statement, made on Nov. 1 before she surrendered to authorities, declared that the $11.4 million in the account was the “property of Alameda.”

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The complaint was one of the latest efforts by parties to the FTX bankruptcy case seeking to recover funds frozen or locked in other exchanges. In October, Alameda filed a complaint against crypto exchange KuCoin to recover roughly $50 million in locked assets. The exchange said it had frozen the funds due to the “identification of suspicious activities.”

Bankruptcy and criminal cases winding down

FTX and its subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy in November 2022, leaving many investors and creditors uncertain whether the firm had the funds to make them whole again. After roughly two years in bankruptcy court, a judge signed off on a plan to have FTX debtors repay 98% of users roughly 119% of their claimed account value. 

The plan estimated reimbursement based on the price of crypto assets at the time of bankruptcy in 2022, ignoring potential gains in Bitcoin (BTC) and others. It’s unclear exactly when the debtors will begin reimbursing FTX users.

In criminal court, three executives tied to FTX and Alameda have already gone to prison: Ellison, former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, and former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame. Nishad Singh, the exchange’s former director of engineering, was sentenced to time served. FTX co-founder Gary Wang is scheduled for sentencing on Nov. 20.

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