OKX Crypto Exchange To Return over $157M In Frozen FTX & Alameda-related assets

Updated: 30 March 2023

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OKX crypto exchange announced on March 30 that it will return approximately $157 million in frozen assets related to the collapsed FTX crypto exchange and its sister company, Alameda Research. This was revealed in a response to a motion filed today in the FTX bankruptcy proceedings.

OKX Acts “Right By Crypto Traders and the Industry”

According to a Twitter post, the Seychelles-based crypto firm announced returning a total of $157 million in frozen assets to the FTX bankruptcy team. However, there are no specific details on which assets the exchange will return.

For #OKX, doing right by crypto traders & the industry is always a top priority.

We did a proactive investigation when FTX collapsed and froze all associated assets & accounts.

Today, we are turning over USD157 MN in frozen FTX & Alameda-related assets.

Details ↓

— OKX (@okx) March 29, 2023

In the post, the company provided a link to the official statement from the company’s website which read:

In the days surrounding FTX’s collapse in November 2022, OKX proactively initiated investigations to determine whether there had been any FTX-related transactions on its platform. When these investigations discovered assets and accounts associated with FTX and Alameda Research, OKX immediately took action to freeze the associated accounts and safeguard the assets.

The exchange did not specify what digital assets it had identified.

It is worth remembering that hours after the collapse of FTX, a hacker drained approximately $600 million from the exchange, raising concerns about whether FTX accounts on other exchanges were compromised.

Earlier this month, bankruptcy lawyers working on the case said FTX had a “massive shortfall” in assets, with $694 million in the most liquid “Category A Assets.” These assets included fiat, stablecoins, Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), and Solana (SOL).

OKX has been assisting the FTX bankruptcy team by investigating whether it has any of FTX-related assets in its custody. Following investigations, the exchange discovered some funds, including assets from the account of David Ratiney, a former FTX employee.

In a March 30 filing in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Ratiney declared:

From the date the OKX Account was opened through on or about Nov. 10, 2022, the OKX Account, to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief, was controlled and used by Alameda Research LLC and/or its subsidiaries.

Top OKX executives have taken to Twitter to support the company’s move to return the funds to FTX debtors with Haider Rafique, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) commenting on how the company “identified, froze and handed off the assets to the bankruptcy estate.” Rafigue said that the process was initiated by OKX and “not based on a request from any third party.”

We are continuing to do our part in doing the right thing for customers everywhere.

Quoting Rafique’s tweet, Lennix Lai, the Managing Director and Global Head of Institutional at OKX, congratulated his team for managing to “identify and froze the assets, ran deep analysis and investigation” in a very short period of time.

Hat off to our risk team who managed to identify and froze the assets, ran deep analysis and investigation – all within a relatively short time frame.

It accounted 1/4 of FTX liquid asset. https://t.co/IWCoGRzWBu

— Lennix Lai (@LennixOKX) March 30, 2023

OKX committed to “cooperate with the FTX debtors and law enforcement officials in the hope that these assets will eventually be returned to FTX users through the bankruptcy process.”