The FTX bankruptcy estate has challenged the recently announced sale of FTX EU to Backpack, the cryptocurrency wallet and exchange company founded by former FTX and Alameda employees.
FTX’s estate said Backpack “has no involvement in the process approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to return funds to FTX customers and other creditors,” and that a news release about Backpack’s sale on Monday aired without Backpack’s knowledge or involvement. FTX.
Backpack had announced plans to pay FTX EU’s creditors, as well as setting out how it plans to operate a regulated crypto derivatives service using the licenses acquired in the sale.
“Backpack has not been authorized by FTX to make distributions to any FTX clients or other creditors, including former EU FTX clients,” FTX’s bankruptcy estate said in its statement.
In March 2024, FTX’s bankruptcy court approved the sale of FTX EU to Patrick Gruhn and Robin Matzke, the co-founders of Digital Assets, a company acquired by Sam Bankman Fried in 2021; Gruhn and Matzke stayed on to lead FTX’s expansion into Europe.
In an attempt to clarify the situation, Backpack said it purchased FTX EU from Gruhn and Matzke, a transaction that has also been completed and reflected in official public records since June 2024, and which has been approved by CySec, the financial regulator of Cyprus. .
“As an authorized entity, the transfer of the FTX EU entity was subject to regulatory approval from CySec. In December 2024, CySec approved the purchase of Backpack after a lengthy diligence process. Following such approval, FTX’s estate is obligated to transfer the shares as established in the purchase and sale agreement approved by the court. We look forward to the completion of the transfer so that, like the FTX bankruptcy estate, we can begin returning customer funds to former FTX EU customers,” Backpack said in a statement issued Thursday.
FTX EU will be renamed Backpack EU and Backpack EU will be solely responsible for redistributing funds from former FTX EU clients, Backpack said.
Former FTX EU boss Patrick Gruhn said that in May last year he initiated a change of control procedure for the subsidiary FTX EU Ltd. with CySEC, which is obliged to transfer the shares of the regulated investment company.
“In this very complex bankruptcy proceeding, I assume that FTX wanted to make it clear that it has no direct relationship with Backpack and will not distribute funds from the US bankruptcy estate. However, FTX EU will be renamed Backpack EU and of course , will distribute previous FTX EU funds to clients,” Gruhn said via email.
