OKX Hands Over FTX Frozen Assets Worth $157M to Relevant Authorities

• OKX returns $157 million in frozen FTX and Alameda-related assets.
• Bankruptcy lawyers said FTX had a massive asset shortfall.
• Of assets worth $2.2B, only $694 million constitute the most liquid, like BTC.

In an exciting turn of events, the OKX crypto exchange said it is handing over approximately $157 million in frozen FTX and Alameda-related assets to the relevant authorities — in response to a motion filed in the bankruptcy proceedings.

According to the official statement on Thursday, OKX claimed to have proactively initiated investigations in the days surrounding FTX’s collapse to determine whether there were any FTX-related transactions on its platform. Upon discovering accounts related to FTX and Alameda Research, OKX immediately froze the associated accounts to safeguard the assets.

Notably, a hacker stole $600 million from FTX wallets shortly after it went out of business last November. The incident made crypto enthusiasts worry that FTX accounts on other exchanges might also have been compromised.

Earlier this month, bankruptcy lawyers working on FTX’s case said the failed exchange had a massive asset shortfall. According to the report, assets worth $2.2 billion were identified in the wallets of the accounts associated with FTX. However, only $694 million constitute the most liquid Category A assets, which include fiat, stablecoins, Bitcoin (BTC), and Ethereum (ETH).

Other assets included $385 million in unpaid customer bills and substantial claims against FTX’s sister company, Alameda Research, and other related parties. The presentation also shows that Alameda borrowed $9.3 billion from the wallets and accounts of FTX.

Similarly, FTX’s US subsidiary had $191 million in total assets in addition to $28 million in customer receivables and $155 million in related party receivables.