Officials have confirmed that millions of users’ remaining assets were stolen over the weekend via unauthorized transfers, making the already dire situation for the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX much worse.
Following concerns of suspicious behavior on the platform, John Ray, the new Chief Restructuring Officer and CEO of FTX, stated in a statement on Sunday that unauthorized access to some assets had happened.
FTX officials have not disclosed the value of the missing funds, but blockchain research company Elliptic calculated that the alleged heist cost US$477 million.
Investors with money trapped in the illiquid exchange may suffer yet another setback as a result of the heist. According to a Monday Bloomberg article, an FTX.com balance sheet provided to investors a day before its bankruptcy indicated US$9 billion in liabilities and only US$900 million in liquid assets.
General Counsel at FTX US Ryne Miller tweeted on Saturday that after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday, FTX wallets were being drained and moved to cold storage. This process was accelerated “to mitigate damage upon observing unauthorized transactions,” Miller wrote.
As many digital assets as are able to be recognized are being moved to a new cold wallet custodian as the exchange is in the process of eliminating trading and withdrawal functionality, according to FTX CEO Ray.
Ray added that the company will “coordinate with law enforcement and relevant regulators” in response to the incident.
