Most crypto firm customers will get all money back

Almost all customers of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX will get their money back — and more, according to a court filing.

FTX estimates it owes creditors about $11.2 billion, according to a reorganization plan released late Tuesday. The company said it has between $14.5 billion and $16.3 billion to distribute to creditors.

Customers whose claims total $50,000 or less will receive roughly 118 percent of their allowed claim amount, the plan said. About 98% of creditors will receive this compensation.

The reorganization plan, which still has to be approved by the bankruptcy court, is likely to bring some relief to FTX customers whose money has been locked up in the exchange since it filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2022.

FTX’s reputed founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was convicted of seven criminal charges in early November, including charges related to the theft of billions of dollars from FTX customers. He received a sentence of 25 years in prison.

FTX was able to raise the money by selling a number of assets, including venture investments held by the exchange and other investments held by Alameda, Bankman-Fried’s crypto hedge fund.

One of FTX’s most notable investments was in artificial intelligence firm Anthropic, a company backed by Amazon. FTX sold most of its stake in Anthropic this year, netting nearly $900 million.

FTX had to find other ways to raise money as a large amount of cryptocurrency is missing from the exchange.

“Accordingly, the Debtors have not been able to benefit from the appreciation of these missing tokens during the Chapter 11 cases. Instead, the Debtors have had to seek other sources of recoverable value to repay creditors,” FTX said in a press release on Wednesday .

Cryptocurrency prices have risen significantly since November 2022. Bitcoin is up about 270% since FTX filed for bankruptcy.

After Bankman-Fried stepped down, FTX appointed John Ray III as CEO. Speaking to FTX in November 2022, Ray said that “in his 40 years of legal and restructuring experience” he had never seen “such a complete failure of corporate control and such a complete absence of reliable financial information as happened here’.

“We are pleased to be able to offer a Chapter 11 plan that provides for the return of 100 percent of the bankruptcy claim amounts plus interest to non-government creditors,” Ray said in Wednesday’s press release.

— CNBC’s Mackenzie Sigalos contributed to this report.