Bankrupt FTX raises Vietnamese investors’ hopes with email

Hoang Quan, a crypto investor in Da Nang, is one of the recipients.

He said: “At first I thought it was a scam email, but after many Vietnamese FTX users spoke about a refund email I felt safe to open it and click on the confirmation link.”

The mail mentions the balance in investors’ accounts on November 11, 2022, when FTX filed for bankruptcy protection. FTX’s new CEO, John Ray, has said his top priority was recovering assets to repay FTX customers.

The FTX user community said the balances in their accounts are accurate.

But the email also notes that this is only proof of confirmation for investors, and the refund schedule would be determined by the courts.

Tu Quynh, the administrator of a large crypto community, said: “It is not clear yet what the refund procedure will be. Hopefully, everyone can get back some money even if not all. It is better than nothing.”

There is no data on how much money Vietnamese users lost when FTX collapsed. It was the third largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, but not a favorite for Vietnamese investors.

In a lawsuit filed in a Delaware court in the U.S. on March 17 creditors said the exchange owed them US$11.6 billion.

An FTX spokesperson said the exchange had around $4.8 billion in assets.

After filing for bankruptcy and facing a series of lawsuits, the exchange is looking to collect debts to pay customers and partners.

Recently it managed to get back $404 million from Modulo Capital, a venture capital fund in which it had invested $475 million in 2022.