Bankrupt crypto-currency exchange FTX to start allowing customers in Japan to withdraw funds

FTX customers in Japan will soon be able to withdraw their funds that are currently frozen due to the bankruptcy process. Two FTX-owned crypto-currency exchanges, FTX Japan and Liquid, are developing a system to allow withdrawals by mid-February.

FTX’s Japanese customers will soon be able to withdraw their funds

Two FTX-owned crypto-currency exchanges in Japan – FTX Japan and Liquid – jointly announced Thursday that their users will be able to withdraw funds by mid-February. The two crypto-currency exchanges announced:

For assets entrusted to us by our FTX Japan and Liquid Japan customers, we are in the process of developing the system so that withdrawals will be possible from the Liquid Japan site.

To withdraw funds, FTX Japan customers will need to open an account with Liquid and transfer their assets to the Liquid platform. The exchanges plan to allow withdrawals by mid-February, according to the joint announcement.

Japanese exchange Liquid was acquired by FTX earlier this year. The deal included Quoine Corp, one of the first crypto-currency exchanges to successfully register in 2017 with Japan’s main financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA).

The acquisition followed a major hack where about $90 million in crypto-currencies were stolen from the Liquid platform. FTX then provided Liquid with $120 million in debt financing at the time.

FTX filed for bankruptcy on November 11. However, FTX Japan said on December 1 that it had confirmed with FTX Group’s lawyers that “Japanese customer cash and crypto-currencies should not be part of the FTX Japan estate given the way these assets are held and the ownership interests under Japanese law.“

In November, the FSA issued three orders against FTX Japan: a business suspension order, a domestic asset detention order and a business improvement order. These orders followed the exchange’s abrupt halt of customer withdrawals. The next day, FTX filed for bankruptcy in the United States. The exchange and its former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), were charged by the U.S. government and regulators with several counts of fraud.