The Europe-based subsidiary of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has set up a dedicated website for users to submit withdrawal requests.
In a press release on Friday, FTX EU said it had initiated the process of allowing customers to request their final balances on the exchange ahead of enabling withdrawals of funds held in their accounts.
Only EU-based users who signed up on the crypto exchange after March 7, 2022 will be eligible to make requests.
“Any withdrawal requests will be subject to customary know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering checks, and a customer’s withdrawal may be delayed if bank or other account details have not been sufficiently verified,” said FTX EU.
The claimable balance will be as of Nov. 12, when FTX EU closed all customer positions and settled them in fiat currency following FTX’s declaration of bankruptcy. The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates FTX’s EU subsidiary, suspended the trading firm’s license and ordered the firm to return all funds to customers who request withdrawals.
This isn’t the first instance of an FTX subsidiary in a country outside the U.S. moving to return user funds. In February, FTX Japan made good on its promise to allow users to withdraw their stranded crypto assets from the exchange.
At the request of Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA), FTX-Japan suspended operations on Nov. 10 – two days before its parent company declared bankruptcy. The motivation behind doing this was to prevent potential outflows to affiliated companies, said executives from the firm.
Meanwhile, FTX’s ongoing bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S. don’t look anywhere near completion. Despite the allegations of fraud against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, some creditors believe that reopening the exchange could be the best course of action to repay those who lost funds.
“FTX is not SBF. … The management team that ruined the business is not involved in FTX anymore,” said FTX creditor Sunil Kavuri to The Block.
“The underlying business, run properly, makes money. So for me, it makes zero economic sense to dismantle a profit-making business. And also it will generate returns in order to pay back users.”
