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FTX asks court to keep US$450 mln Robinhood shares frozen

Failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX Trading Ltd. has asked a bankruptcy court to keep US$450 million worth of Robinhood shares frozen, as three parties battle for the true ownership of the assets. 

By Timmy Shen

From the Forkast crypto archive

NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 22: FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried leaves Manhattan Federal Court after his arraignment and bail hearings on December 22, 2022 in New York City. Bankman-Fried, who was indicted on December 9th and arrested 3 days later by Bahamas law enforcement at the request of U.S. prosecutors, consented to extradition to the U.S. where he is facing eight criminal counts of fraud, conspiracy and money-laundering offenses which includes making illegal political contributions. He is potentially facing life in prison if convicted. He was released on $250 million bond with the bail package requiring him to stay with his parents in California. (Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

Failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX Trading Ltd. has asked a bankruptcy court to keep US$450 million worth of Robinhood shares frozen, as three parties battle for the true ownership of the assets. 

See related article: Sam Bankman-Fried home for Christmas after making US$250 million bail in U.S.

Fast facts

  • FTX lawyers said in a Thursday court filing that about 56 million shares of trading app Robinhood in dispute are owned by Emergent Fidelity Technologies Ltd., former FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried’s holding company in Antigua and Barbuda.
  • Three parties, bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi, FTX creditor Yonathan Ben Shimon and Bankman-Fried, have filed court actions in attempts to gain control of the shares.
  • The assets are currently frozen in a brokerage account at ED&F Man Capital Markets Inc. in New York City, according to the filing.
  • Bankman-Fried made his first appearance in a Manhattan court on Thursday and was released on a US$250 million bail package, which prosecutor Nicolas Roos called the “largest ever pretrial bond.”
  • At FTX’s first bankruptcy hearing last month, an attorney for the company said it was run as a “personal fiefdom” of Bankman-Fried and that a “substantial amount of assets” has either been stolen or gone missing.

See related article: FTX says it has over US$1B in cash assets