- The new FTX leadership is working to recover liquid assets.
- Restructuring officers have not spared recipients of donations.
- A New York museum has agreed to return donations.
In the wake of the FTX collapse, restructuring officers have worked to grow the bankrupt crypto exchange’s liquid assets. This process has also involved the clawing back of donations.
These efforts appear to yield results, as a New York Museum has revealed plans to return a sizable donation from the crypto exchange.
More Returns to Come?
In a recent court filing, FTX confirmed that it had agreed with New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art to refund $550,000 in donations received from the crypto exchange before it filed for bankruptcy. The decision notably came on the back of extended negotiations with FTX debtors.
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"The Met wishes to return the Donations to the FTX Debtors, and the FTX Debtors and the Met have engaged in good faith, arm's length negotiations concerning the return," the court filing asserted.
The Met received the $550,000 donation in two tranches in 2022. FTX first paid $300,000 in March before donating another $250,000 in May. The Met will be given a month to return the sum if the court approves the recent agreement.
It is worth noting that FTX has also sought to retrieve political campaign donations made by the crypto exchange under Sam Bankman-Fried’s leadership. A spreadsheet by OpenSecrets, a non-profit organization that tracks money flows in politics, placed the crypto exchange’s political donations at over $84 million.
The Protect Our Future PAC was the biggest beneficiary of FTX’s political donations, with $28,000,000. While most of FTX’s political contributions were initially linked to Democrats, Bankman-Fried later asserted in an interview with Tiffany Fong that he gave just as much money to Republicans.
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Seeking to claw these funds back to settle creditors in a February letter, FTX threatened legal action against donation recipients that failed to return received funds.
All of these indicate that the Met Museum donation is unlikely to be the last to be returned to the FTX estate.
On the Flipside
- FTX restructuring officers alleged that the lack of corporate controls at the crypto exchange made it challenging to ascertain its liquid assets.
Why This Matters
The return of the Mets museum donation will be a positive for FTX creditors.
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