FTX’s new CEO talks about the possibility of relaunching FTX in his first interview since taking over

Following the recent revelation that FTX debtors and bankruptcy administrators found $5.5 billion in liquid assets, FTX’s new CEO John J. Ray III discussed the company in his first interview since taking over the exchange’s restructuring process. Ray explained during the interview that he was open to the possibility of reviving the defunct digital currency exchange platform.

FTX CEO John J. Ray III is exploring the possibility of reviving the defunct crypto-currency exchange platform.

FTX’s new CEO and Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO), John J. Ray III, made his first visit to the FTX. interview since the company filed for bankruptcy protection on November 11, 2022. John J. Ray told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that there could be value in the crypto exchange reboot and noted that “Everything is on the table.“Ray’s interview follows a recent press release and presentation by the FTX bankruptcy team and debtors, which were issued to inform the unsecured creditors’ committee.

“If there is a way forward on [rebooting FTX] then we won’t just explore it, we’ll do it“, John J. Ray told the publication.

The presentation to the unsecured creditors’ committee showed that $5.5 billion of so-called “liquid assets” have been discovered. However, the definition ofliquid“, as applied to the locked SOL cache and the FTX (FTT) token cache, is questionable. In addition to the $5.5 billion uncovered, the bankruptcy team said another $4.5 billion could be obtained by selling subsidiaries and marketing FTX’s Bahamian real estate. John J. Ray said the debtors are working with stakeholders who “have identified what they consider to be a viable business.“

FTX’s new CEO addresses tensions with former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, and criticizes excessive spending by the inner circle.

John J. Ray also addressed former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), as it was reported that the new FTX CEO kept his distance from the disgraced FTX co-founder.”We don’t need to have a dialogue with him“, John J. Ray told the WSJ. “He didn’t tell us anything I didn’t already know“. However, the WSJ obtained a response from SBF, which called John J. Ray’s comment “shocking“.

“This is a shocking and damning comment from someone who claims to care about customers“, SBF told the WSJ. Ray sees things differently from SBF, and the restructuring executive even criticized the co-founder’s Excel balance sheet theory. “That’s the problem“, John J. Ray told the WSJ interviewer. “He thinks everything is one big honeypot.“

John J. Ray revealed that he had never seen anything like FTX in his entire career of corporate restructuring. “They went on a spending spree“, Ray pointed out. “Sometimes there were no purchase contracts, or the contracts were not signed“, the FTX CEO added. Once again, SBF denied Ray’s claims that the co-founder thought things were like a big honeypot.

“John J. Ray continues to make false claims based on non-existent calculations“, Sam Bankman-Fried told the WSJ in a text message. “Si John J. Ray had bothered to think carefully about FTX US, he probably would have realized both that his interpretation is totally inconsistent with bankruptcy law, and also that even if one were to subtract $250 million from my balance sheet, FTX US would *still* have been solvent.“

Sam Bankman-Fried added:

Instead, Mr. Ray sees everything as a big honey pot, which he wants to keep.

John J. Ray strongly disagrees with Sam Bankman-Fried, and despite the fact that the FTX co-founder has said on countless occasions that he would like to help creditors, Ray believes that SBF is deceptive and causes more harm than good. Noting that Sam Bankman-Fried’s text message statements are false, Ray insisted that it is “unfortunate because people continue to be victims right now“. The new FTX CEO added, “They are victims of misinformation… It’s damaging.“

FTX’s exchange token, FTT jumped in value following news from Ray and his belief that there may be a chance to revive the defunct trading platform. FTT soared 35% to $2.48 per unit, up from $1.71 per unit before the John J. Ray interview was published.