The bankrupt exchange operated by Sam Bankman-Fried announced $7.3 billion USD (£5.8bn) in cash as well as liquid crypto assets. The crypto assets would have been worth £4.9bn in November during the companies initial bankruptcy filing, and the appreciation of crypto prices in the last few months have helped FTX strengthen its balance sheet. 

“The situation has been stabilised and the dumpster fire is out,” said Andy Dietderich, attorney for FTX during a bankruptcy hearing on Wednesday. According to Dietderich, FTX is also in negotiation for a potential reboot of the exchange to take place in Q2 2024. 

“In the second quarter the debtors complete the 90-day review period we set for internal discussions concerning the continued operation of the exchange,” said Dietderich. “Our goal is to file with the court a preliminary plan of reorganization in July,” he said. 

This is their "aspirational" yet "sensible" calendar for the debtors' plan pic.twitter.com/swqyRvTp7Q

— Molly White (@molly0xFFF) April 12, 2023

After announcing the potential reboot of the exchange, the price of the FTX crypto token jumped from £1.05 to £2.17 in the span of about an hour. At the time of publication, the FTX token is worth just over £2, according to Binance. 

If FTX were to restart operations, it would need significant capital. At this time, it is unclear if FTX would use its own funds, or seek outside funding to complete the reboot according to Dietderich.

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The plan hinges on a Chapter 11 reorganisation plan that will be filed in July. A case filed under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code allows the debtor to operate its business and borrow new money with the court’s approval. 

Filing a Chapter 11 will be difficult for FTX, as creditors continue to fight for shares of the company’s assets. 

Customers whose funds are locked up due to the bankruptcy case were given little advice on what a potential reboot would mean for their deposits. Customers in Japan have so far been the only ones able to withdraw funds, due to the country’s relatively strong crypto regulations according to Dietderich.

Once one of crypto’s most prominent figurehead’s, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has since been accused of orchestrating an “epic” fraud. In December, 30-year-old Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas – where FTX is headquartered – accused of committing “one of the biggest financial frauds in US history following the crypto exchanges collapse, which allegedly occured as a result of Bankman-Fried misappropriating FTX users’ funds to cover debts and make other investments.

Bankman-Fried has plead not guilty to all criminal charges related to the fallout from FTX, with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has formed a task force to “trace and recover” missing FTX customer funds and handle investigations and prosecutions related to the exchange’s collapse.