FTT up 65% after SEC’s Gensler hints FTX restart

FTT rose over 65% despite FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s guilty verdict last week.

By Zoltan Vardai2023-11-09 2:59 PM UTC

WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 03: Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler listens during a meeting with the Treasury Department's Financial Stability Oversight Council at the U.S. Treasury Department on October 03, 2022 in Washington, DC. The council held the meeting to discuss a range of topics including climate-related financial risk and the recent Treasury report on the adoption of cloud services in the financial sector. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

FTT, the native token of the bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange, rose over 65% on Thursday, after U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler said that he is open to the idea of restarting the exchange.

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Fast Facts

FTT rose 65% in the 24 hours leading up to 10:13 p.m. in Hong Kong, to US$2.12, according to CoinMarketCap.

The price rally occurred a day after Gensler hinted that he is open to the potential reboot of FTX by Tom Farley, as long as it is done “within the law.” Farley is a former president of the New York Stock Exchange who is among the three top bidders for the bankrupt exchange.

“Build the trust of investors in what you’re doing and ensure that you’re doing the proper disclosures — and also that you’re not commingling all these functions, trading against your customers. Or using their crypto assets for your own purposes,” Gensler told CNBC at the DC Fintech Week on Wednesday.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy last Thursday. He faces up to 115 years in prison and his sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 28, 2024

FTX filed for bankruptcy with 130 of its affiliates nearly a year ago on Nov. 11, as it was unable to honor customer withdrawals amid a bank run-style collapse due to misappropriation of customer deposits.