FTX Japan Approves Total Withdrawal of Users’ Assets

Japanese users of the troubled cryptocurrency exchange FTX can now access all of their funds for the first time since the implosion of the form and the seizure of its assets. Unlike partial withdrawal which many users experienced initially, the platform is now allowing total withdrawal.

FTX Japan is one of the subsidiaries of the FTX Derivatives Exchange that has made several attempts to restore order to its operations after the company fell into a liquidity crunch that almost stripped it of all its assets.

In November 2022, FTX, the renowned digital asset company which was considered the closest rival to Binance became bankrupt after authorities discovered that there had been some misdeeds in the account books of the firm. Sam Bankman-Fried, the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the exchange was levied with eight charges including misleading customers.

Regulators began to seize assets that belonged to the beleaguered firm and its former CEO as part of the bankruptcy process. Bahamas regulators confiscated as much as $3.5 billion with the aim of settling users who were affected by the unfortunate situation. Last month, federal prosecutors also seized some of SBF’s assets worth over $700 million, mostly in Robinhood stocks.

FTX Businesses Suspends Withdrawal Globally

In the heat of regulators’ investigations and probes, all regions where the FTX business was operational became skeptical of the exchange’s activities and eventually suspended their licenses.

Customers were locked out of their accounts since then and have not been able to initiate any withdrawals. However, in December, FTX Japan began to strategize on how to return users’ funds especially after it was clarified that these assets were not part of the bankruptcy proceeding.

It was finally decided that FTX Japan users will be granted access to their funds as of February 21st through Liquid Japan, its sister trading firm.

When it was finally time for users to withdraw their assets, many of them began to face several hurdles. Some users were told that they are not eligible for a withdrawal while some of them could not withdraw all their assets, especially Bitcoin (BTC). 

As of Saturday, FTX Japan claimed to have released over 6 billion yen which is approximately $50 million to 3,454 individual accounts and 94 corporate accounts.