“We’re changing finance” they said... well, they did. Now another round of repayments to clean up the mess is that made is on the way. This time, they’re dishing out $1.6 billion to creditors on September 30.
This marks the third big distribution since Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire imploded back in November 2022. For those keeping score, previous payouts have already sent more than $6 billion back into the hands of people who once logged in expecting to trade crypto, not accidentally fund a real-life cautionary tale.
The FTX Recovery Trust, the team babysitting what’s left of crypthe empire, says payments will flow through BitGo, Kraken, or Payoneer. As long as creditors have jumped through the verification hoops on the claims portal, they should see the money land in their accounts within three business days. Smooth sailing—well, smoother than the last time they dealt with FTX.
Where things stand:
- FTX.com Customers (Class 5A): Getting an extra 6% this round, which brings them up to about 78% repaid overall.
- FTX.us Customers (Class 5B): A hefty 40% payout this time, pushing them up to 95% repaid in total.
- General Unsecured + Digital Asset Loan Claims (Classes 6A & 6B): Both groups are seeing a 24% distribution in this round, bringing them to 85% overall.
- Then users with under $10k (Class 7) should have recouped 120% following this payment - more than they lost.
But worth noting, this is based on USD value of their account the on the day FTX shut down, and in many cases users would have earned much more if it all remained in crypto.
When the exchange went under, it didn’t just bruise investor confidence. It helped shove the entire crypto market into a nasty bear phase. And, of course, Sam Bankman-Fried himself ended up convicted on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. The man who once charmed Congress and celebrities alike now has fewer freedoms than his onetime favorite video game character in League of Legends.
While Some Prison Time is Deserved, The Facts in the End Got Me Thinking...
Thinking back to the day when Sam was sentenced to 25 years in prison - the courtroom heard gut-wrenching testimony. Several FTX users explained how they’d lost their life savings, their security, their futures—gone overnight. The judge, right after hearing all this devastation, handed down a quarter-century prison term. Case closed, right?
But... none of that ended up happening.
Fast-forward to now, and the math looks different. Thanks to a little timing and some lucky investments (hello, Solana at under $1), creditors aren’t just being made whole—they’re being paid back at about 125% of their original U.S. dollar balances. In other words: nobody actually lost their life savings after all.
But here’s the kicker—Sam is still serving a sentence fit for someone who ruined thousands of lives. Make no mistake, what he did was fraudulent, reckless, and criminal. He absolutely deserves years behind bars. But 25 years - that's a bill to the taxpayer for roughly $1,100,000! That’s where things feel messy.
Imagine instead: house arrest, an ankle monitor, zero unsupervised internet access, and the entire bill picked up by Sam and his wealthy parents. He’s not a violent offender, I don't think anyone fears him. Keeping him caged for decades doesn’t make us any safer - it just has us paying for his meals really.
The irony is hard to miss: the victims are walking away with more than they lost, but taxpayers still foot the bill to warehouse Sam for 25 years. Justice? Maybe. Efficient? Not even close.
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Author: Oliver Redding
Seattle Newsdesk / Breaking Crypto News
