FTX’s FTT token experiences mysterious rise amid bankruptcy and Sam Bankman-Fried fraud charges

As the FTX bankruptcy case and fraud charges against co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried continue to unfold, the value of the exchange token, FTX Token (FTT), has seen significant growth. Since January 9, 2023, FTT has risen 28.42% and is currently above the $1 range, after a dip below that threshold.

The FTT token jumps 28% and breaks above the $1 threshold.

The value of the FTX exchange token, FTT has risen sharply over the past two days. On January 9, 2023, the coin reached $1.36 per unit. Although some of these gains have been lost, FTT is currently holding above the $1 range at $1.22 per coin as of 9:30 a.m. Eastern time on January 11, 2023. The reason for this surge in value is uncertain, as FTT tokenomics is tied to the now defunct FTX exchange and its potential future growth.

Ownership concentration levels are extremely high, with a single address controlling 59.55% of the total FTT supply. In addition, an unknown hacker holds 45.85 million FTT tokens, or 13.94% of the outstanding supply. Another unknown address holds 10 million FTTs, or 3.04% of the total supply. The value of FTTs fell below $1 on December 19, 2022, and remained below that threshold until a peak on January 9, 2023.

The most active crypto exchanges trading FTT are currently Binance, Mexc Global, Kucoin, Gate.io and Sushiswap. On Sushiswap alone, there are approximately $104,496 worth of FTT trades matched to Wrapped Ethereum (WETH). The overall trading volume for FTT is about $23.81 million across all global exchanges. Since the FTT token’s all-time low 12 days ago, on Dec. 30, 2022, when it hit $0.827 per unit, it has increased 45.8%. However, it remains 98.6% below its all-time high of $84.18 per unit reached on September 09, 2021.

With Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) facing financial fraud charges and FTX filing for bankruptcy, the future of FTT is uncertain. Despite this, the token hasn’t experienced the same steep drop as Terra’s LUNA did last May. FTT’s tokenomics were closely tied to FTX’s, including providing traders with reduced fees on the now-defunct crypto-currency exchange, and now the coin’s tokenomics are in disarray.

FTX is among the many crypto assets that have managed to survive despite a lack of development or clear tokenomics. It has now become something that traders can speculate on as a hobby, and in light of the ongoing scandal involving SBF and FTX, it’s hard to take it seriously.