FTX: Backpack’s acquisition of FTX EU has not been approved by the court and is not authorized to distribute funds to creditors

Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX said that Backpack’s acquisition of its European subsidiary FTX EU has not been approved by the bankruptcy court, and Backpack has not been authorized to distribute funds to FTX creditors. Backpack announced on January 7 that it had acquired FTX EU and said it would be responsible for repaying creditors to EU customers under the court-approved bankruptcy process. Backpack founder Armani Ferrante said the exchange would not “do any transactions in the EU” until it was able to repay FTX creditors, saying it would be ready as early as February. However, FTX said in a statement on January 8 that Backpack’s “alleged” acquisition of FTX EU has not yet occurred and has not been approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of Delaware, adding that all statements issued by Backpack were issued without FTX’s knowledge. FTX said that the FTX debtors had previously agreed to sell FTX EU to "certain former insiders" of FTX Europe under a settlement agreement under the supervision of the bankruptcy court, but said that they were only informed that these former insiders had agreed to transfer FTX EU indirectly to Backpack. FTX said: "Before this week, neither FTX nor the US Bankruptcy Court was informed of FTX's indirect sale to Backpack. Backpack has not been authorized by FTX to make any distribution to any FTX customer or other creditor (including any former FTX customer)." (Cointelegraph) Yesterday's news, Backpack Exchange acquired FTX EU for $32.7 million and will be responsible for distributing $55 million in FTX bankruptcy claims.