Three parties have attempted to gain control of the 56 million shares, including ex-FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.
According to a filing Thursday, FTX sought the assistance of a U.S. bankruptcy court in a dispute over ownership of approximately $450 million in stock in Robinhood Markets (HOOD).
According to the filing, Emergent Fidelity Technologies Ltd., a corporate entity organized in Antigua and Barbuda and 90% controlled by former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, owns approximately 56 million shares of the brokerage.
According to the filing, three parties have attempted to gain control of those shares: BlockFi (a lender that FTX assisted in rescuing earlier this year), Yonathan Ben Shimon (an FTX creditor appointed as a receiver in Antigua and granted permission to sell the shares under the supervision of a court there), and Bankman-Fried himself (who has legal bills).
Around the time the Chapter 11 case began on November 11, FTX’s bankruptcy estate instructed ED&F Man Capital Markets, the brokerage where the shares are parked, to freeze the stock. FTX has determined that Emergent owns the shares only “nominally” and that they truly belong to FTX. “Emergent appears to be a special-purpose holding company with no other business,” the crypto exchange stated in the filing.
According to the filing, the judge overseeing the bankruptcy case should order that the shares remain frozen while FTX attempts to repay all of its creditors.
“The fact that multiple prepetition creditors of different Debtors and Mr. Bankman-Fried are all seeking possession of the Robinhood Shares demonstrates that the asset should be frozen until this Court can resolve the issues in a manner that is fair to all Debtors’ creditors,” FTX stated.
