Failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX Trading Ltd. has asked a bankruptcy court to keep US$450 million worth of Robinhood shares frozen, as three parties battle for the true ownership of the assets.
See related article: Sam Bankman-Fried home for Christmas after making US$250 million bail in U.S.
Fast facts
- FTX lawyers said in a Thursday court filing that about 56 million shares of trading app Robinhood in dispute are owned by Emergent Fidelity Technologies Ltd., former FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried’s holding company in Antigua and Barbuda.
- Three parties, bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi, FTX creditor Yonathan Ben Shimon and Bankman-Fried, have filed court actions in attempts to gain control of the shares.
- The assets are currently frozen in a brokerage account at ED&F Man Capital Markets Inc. in New York City, according to the filing.
- Bankman-Fried made his first appearance in a Manhattan court on Thursday and was released on a US$250 million bail package, which prosecutor Nicolas Roos called the “largest ever pretrial bond.”
- At FTX’s first bankruptcy hearing last month, an attorney for the company said it was run as a “personal fiefdom” of Bankman-Fried and that a “substantial amount of assets” has either been stolen or gone missing.
See related article: FTX says it has over US$1B in cash assets