FTX Europe goes back to the founders

FTX Europe has returned to the crypto exchange's original owners after settling a legal dispute for $32.7 million. Originally, Sam Bankman-Fried paid about US$323 million for the purchase nearly three years ago.

Before FTX accepted the sale, the crypto exchange demanded the money for the purchase back. In a lawsuit, it claimed that the purchase was financed with customer funds and also claimed that Sam Bankman-Fried had made a "huge overpayment."

The founders of the start-up, originally called Digital Assets AG, denied the allegations and counterattacked, demanding US$256.6 million from FTX. According to Reuters an agreement was reached between the two parties on Feb. 20.

Several crypto exchanges were previously eager to acquire FTX Europe to expand their own presence in the European market. In particular, U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase showed interest and therefore did two takeover attempts in November 2022 and September 2023.

FTX Europe was part of FTX's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in the United States in November 2022, leaving the company officially active in the European market for only eight months.

Currently, FTX is in the final stages of its bankruptcy proceedings and plans to repay billions of US dollars in full to its customers. In March 2023, FTX Europe also set up a website where European customers could request withdrawals for the first time since the bankruptcy filing.

As FTX Europe makes a fresh start with original founders Patrick Gruhn and Robin Matzke, the first prison photos of Samuel-Bankman Fried surfaced. A final ruling on SBF will follow in late March.