FTX Gets Court Approval for LedgerX Sale at Massive Loss

A U.S. judge today said yes to the sale of FTX-owned derivatives trading platform LedgerX—at a massive loss. 

In a Thursday hearing, Judge John Dorsey quickly authorized the sale to private equity firm M7 Holdings. 

“Well, that was easy,” he said at the short hearing when no one voiced any objections. 

LedgerX CEO Zach Dexter wrote on Twitter that he was “very pleased” to announce that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware had granted a motion permitting the sale. 

But the sale is the latest ignominious advancement in the FTX saga: FTX.US, which catered to American customers, snapped up derivatives exchange LedgerX back in August 2021 for nearly $300 million. 

Ex-FTX boss and now alleged criminal Sam Bankman-Fried told Decrypt last August how excited he was for the acquisition, claiming that bringing derivatives to American customers was “one of the most important things” the FTX brand did. 

Today’s greenlighted sale means it will now be sold for $50 million. The idea is to reimburse former clients who lost money in FTX’s colossal crash. 

The CFTC-regulated trading platform was one of the only FTX entities which remained solvent following FTX’s highly publicized Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings last November.

FTX allowed people to buy, sell, and bet on the future price of digital assets. Its ex-boss and co-founder’s face was plastered on ads around San Francisco and appeared to be cozy with politicians—donating to both the Republicans and Democrats. 

But the exchange quickly and unexpectedly went bust in November last year. Prosecutors allege the company was criminally mismanaged; Bankman-Fried is now facing 13 criminal charges, including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.