FTX sues Voyager Digital to claw back US$446 million in 2022 loan payments
channelnewsasia.comNEW YORK: Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX sued crypto lender Voyager Digital on Monday (Jan 30), seeking to claw back US$445.8 million in loan repayments that FTX made before collapsing into bankruptcy in November 2022.FTX and Voyager both filed for bankruptcy amid a 2022 collapse in cryptocurrency markets, but Voyager’s bankruptcy preceded FTX’s filing by four months.After Voyager filed in July, it demanded repayment of all outstanding loans to FTX and its affiliate hedge fund Alameda Research.FTX said in a court filing that on Alameda’s behalf, it paid Voyager US$248.8 million in September and US$193.9 million in October.
FTX also made a US$3.2 million interest payment in August, according to its court filings.Because those loan payments were made so close to FTX’s own bankruptcy filing, they are eligible to be clawed back and potentially used to repay other FTX creditors, according to FTX’s complaint.FTX, once among the world's top crypto exchanges, shook the sector in November by filing for bankruptcy, leaving an estimated 9 million customers and other investors facing losses in the billions of dollars.Its founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been indicted on fraud charges, and several top executives, including Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, have pleaded guilty to fraud.
Bankman-Fried has denied wrongdoing and is scheduled for trial in October.FTX initially appeared to weather the storm that brought down Voyager and other crypto firms in the summer of 2022, presenting itself as a "white knight" that could stabilise reeling crypto markets.
FTX offered to buy Voyager's platform in a bankruptcy auction, but the proposed acquisition fell apart when FTX imploded in November.In its Monday court filing, FTX acknowledged the
