Crypto exchange FTX ordered to pay $12.7 billion to customers

A U.S. court has ordered bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX to pay $12.7 billion in relief to its customers.

A U.S. court has ordered bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX to pay $12.7 billion in relief to its customers, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Thursday.

FTX drew customers in with "an illusion that it was a safe and secure place to access crypto markets," then misappropriated their customer deposits to make its own risky investments, CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam said in a statement.

The repayment order implements a settlement between the CFTC and the bankrupt crypto exchange, which has committed to a bankruptcy liquidation that will repay customers whose deposits were locked during its late 2022 collapse.

FTX has said that its customers will receive 100% recovery on their claims against the company, based on the value of their accounts at the time it filed for bankruptcy.

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The CFTC agreement resolves a potential roadblock to that repayment, ensuring that the government's lawsuit against FTX will not reduce the funds available to its customers. The CFTC agreed not to collect any payment from FTX until all its customers are repaid, with interest.

The CFTC settlement requires FTX to pay $8.7 billion in restitution and $4 billion in disgorgement, which will be used to further compensate victims for losses suffered during the exchange's collapse.