- FTX estate sues Binance for $1.8B, claiming fraudulent transfers in a 2021 share repurchase deal.
- Changpeng Zhao allegedly led a campaign to harm FTX, impacting its market stability.
- FTX argues that Binance’s actions in Nov 2022 accelerated its collapse by triggering mass withdrawals.
The FTX bankruptcy estate has filed a lawsuit against Binance and its former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, for $1.8 billion in assets allegedly transferred from the now-defunct exchange. The lawsuit is a continuous effort to recover its funds after its collapse and claims that Zhao was responsible for FTX’s losses.
According to the complaint, the FTX estate that co-founder Sam Bankman-fried of FTX initiated a share repurchase agreement with Binance in July 2021, where it was claiming to have bought 20 % of FTX international as well as 18.4 % of its US.
Sam Bankman allegedly used tokens owned by the FTX exchange, including FTT, BNB, and Binance USD (BUSD). When these assets were being purchased, these assets were worth $1.76 billion. The FTX estate contends that by early 2021, Alameda Research and FTX were both bankrupt, so the repurchase contract was fraudulent.
The lawsuit seeks to void the transaction asserting it should never have happened, claiming its effects have a negative impact on FTX and its creditors. In attempting to recover funds transferred to Binance, the company aims to maximize recoveries for paying its creditors, who are still waiting for the end of the bankruptcy proceedings.
Market Manipulation Accusations
Besides the accusation of fraudulent transfer, the FTX estate argues that Changpeng Zhao led the purported ‘campaign to destroy FTX,’ stating that such actions were meant to destabilize the market of the competing exchange FTX. The submission cites occurrences in November 2022 when Zhao announced the intention to sell off FTT holdings that caused individuals to withdraw large amounts of assets from FTX, causing a liquidation crisis in the company.
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FTX further argues that Zhao’s statements about intending to sell FTT did not prioritize minimizing the market impact, as he claimed, but instead aimed to inflict maximum harm on FTX. Additionally, the FTX estate claims that Zhao’s declaration to acquire FTX amid its liquidity challenges was merely a strategy to prevent FTX from securing alternative financing, ultimately worsening its financial condition.
Broader Legal Pursuits by the FTX Bankruptcy Estate
This lawsuit is one of many filed by FTX’s bankruptcy estate in what seems to be an effort to recover losses that they incurred from various bankrupt companies’ mismanagement and fraudulent transactions.
In another filing, FTX’s estate made an effort to reclaim over $100M from SkyBridge Capital and its founder, Anthony Scaramucci, regarding sponsorship and investment deals funded by Bankman-Fried. Additionally, the estate has advanced claims of various sorts against other cryptocurrency companies.
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