FTX’s bankruptcy estate sought to sell about $744 million of trust assets in November 2023 as it worked to raise money for customers and creditors.
The assets included interests in five Grayscale trusts worth about $691 million and one Bitwise trust worth about $53 million. The holdings gave FTX exposure to digital assets through investment trusts rather than direct ownership of the underlying coins.
In a court filing, FTX said selling the assets would reduce the risk of price swings and help protect the value available to creditors. The court later approved the sale on November 29, 2023. Galaxy was given a role in helping FTX sell the holdings under an approved process.
The trust assets became part of FTX’s recovery plan
The approval was important because FTX had built up a large pool of investments during its years of growth. After the exchange collapsed in November 2022, the new management began selling assets and recovering money to fund the bankruptcy process.
The trust holdings were especially valuable because much of the portfolio was linked to Grayscale products. FTX held about 22.3 million shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust before its conversion into an exchange-traded fund in January 2024. The position was worth about $597 million in October 2023.
FTX’s sale also became part of the market story after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024.
The estate eventually sold its entire GBTC position. Data reported at the time showed that FTX sold about 22 million GBTC shares, worth close to $1 billion, during the early weeks after the ETF conversion.
That made the FTX estate one of the major sellers of GBTC during the first days of the new spot Bitcoin ETF market.
The original sale request also came alongside a wider effort to sell FTX’s investments, crypto holdings and other assets. The goal was simple: turn assets that could not be used to repay customers directly into cash.
Also Read: Poolin Files for Bankruptcy, Seeks $52M Sale of Texas Bitcoin Mining Assets
FTX is now paying creditors
The bankruptcy process has moved much further since the original court request. A Delaware bankruptcy judge approved FTX’s Chapter 11 plan in October 2024. The plan allowed the estate to distribute billions of dollars to customers and other creditors. Reuters reported that the plan could return as much as $16.5 billion to customers.
Distributions have since begun. In July 2026, FTX announced a fifth distribution of about $900 million to eligible creditors. Payments were made through BitGo, Kraken or Payoneer for creditors who had completed the required checks.
FTX’s current distribution system shows how far the case has moved from the asset-sale stage. Some claims are still being reviewed, and disputed claims may become eligible later. FTX’s September 2026 guidance says the Recovery Trust continues to reconcile claims before future distributions.
The old settlement plan therefore no longer describes the current state of the bankruptcy. Creditors are now receiving payments under the confirmed plan, rather than waiting for a proposed settlement to be approved.
The earlier court approval for FTX’s crypto asset sales was another step in the same recovery effort. FTX also pursued money from donations and other transfers made before its collapse. Its attempt to investigate the $6.5 million donation to the Center for Applied Rationality was part of that wider recovery work. The original DeFi Planet report covered that dispute.
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