According to a report by Bloomberg, the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which has filed for bankruptcy, may resort to utilizing customer payout funds to reboot its operations.
The attorney representing Sullivan & Cromwell, Andrew G. Dietderich, informed US Bankruptcy Judge John T. Dorsey that discussions are still ongoing regarding the possibility of reopening the exchange.
Alternatives such as raising funds for a restart or abandoning the venture altogether are also being considered.
In February, Sullivan & Cromwell billed FTX a whopping $13.5 million for analyzing “long-term options,” which included studying potential security concerns and holding discussions with cybersecurity company Sygnia.
The law firm also assessed the taxation implications and engaged in conversations with John Ray, the head of the exchange, about creating a mock exchange for user experience testing.
John Ray had previously announced the possibility of restarting FTX to recover losses incurred by creditors and customers.
However, as per the latest data, the exchange owes approximately $11.6 billion to creditors, and the managers have been able to locate only $2.8 billion.
Recently, the debt restructuring team discovered that FTX lacked proper financial and accounting controls, relying instead on a combination of Google Docs, Slack messaging, shared drive information, and Excel spreadsheets to run the business.