The FTX Saga Continues: Victims Fight for Their Share of the Spoils

• FTX victims requested that $8 billion in forfeited assets be returned to customers.
• AI tokens dropped 30% in the past week, coinciding with a peak in AI interest on Google Trends.
• PolyMarket betters predict a 32% chance of a handshake between Biden and Trump at the first 2024 presidential debate.

Victims in the FTX bankruptcy case have filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, asserting that $8 billion of the company’s forfeited assets should be returned to customers, not the bankruptcy estate.

The filing comes amid ongoing debate over FTX’s proposed reorganization plan and concerns over the impact of the bankruptcy process on customer recoveries. The estate recently proposed a 60-day reorganization plan to disburse 118% of claims to 98% of creditors pending court approval.

However, many FTX customers have opposed this decision, having missed the opportunity to profit from the crypto price surge due to restricted funds. The victims’ attorneys, Adam Moskowitz, and David Boies, argued that the bankruptcy process has left FTX customers feeling aggrieved, viewing it as a second act of theft.

“FTX customers feel ‘aggrieved and robbed,’ many of whom view the bankruptcy process as a ‘second act of theft,’” the attorneys stated, adding that the “’FTX bankruptcy estate remains to be the same fraudulent corporate entity’ as was the enterprise run by SBF.” 

The court filing revealed that FTX declared bankruptcy during the 2022 crypto winter, during which digital assets experienced a significant dip. Therefore, pegging customer compensation to the market prices at the time of bankruptcy would be unfair. The filing maintained that Solana and Bitcoin had increased significantly since the bankruptcy petition date.

In separate news, data showed a 30% dip in AI tokens, including Fetch.ai and Render, over the past week. Google Trends data suggest this is likely due to a peak in public interest in AI. Historically, spikes in crypto-related Google searches have coincided with major market tops. Last week, AI search queries peaked at 100, matching the highest level observed in the past five years.

Meanwhile, the first 2024 presidential debate is set for June 27th, with PolyMarket punters betting on a handshake between President Biden and former President Trump. Current betting results show only a 32% likelihood of a handshake happening.