FTX Under Fire for Barring Creditors from 26 Nations as Repayments Begin

On February 18, FTX began its first round of repayments, targeting customers who lost up to $50,000 in the exchange’s collapse. This group, classified as the “Convenience Class,” will receive 100% of their claims, along with an additional 9% interest. The repayment process is being handled by custodial firms BitGo and Kraken, which are managing asset distributions.

However, questions have emerged over jurisdictional restrictions preventing certain creditors from accessing their funds.

FTX creditor advocate Sunil Kavuri raised concerns on X (formerly Twitter) on February 21, sharing a list of restricted countries. Among them are:

• China (which accounted for 8% of FTX’s user base before the collapse)
• Russia, Belarus, Iran, Egypt, Nigeria, and Ukraine

Kavuri also shared data from a November 2022 bankruptcy hearing, which showed the Virgin Islands (11%) and the Cayman Islands (22%) had the largest concentration of FTX users.

While FTX has not provided a clear reason for these exclusions, regulatory barriers and cross-border payment issues are believed to be contributing factors.

Next Repayment Phase Set for May 30

FTX has announced that the next round of repayments is scheduled for May 30, covering “Class 5 Customer Entitlement Claims” and “Class 6 General Unsecured Claims.” These categories include users with larger claims exceeding $50,000, as well as trading partners and vendors. To qualify, creditors must verify their claims by April 11 and select a distribution agent by the same deadline.

In a separate development, a U.S. federal court has finalized the forfeiture of $1 billion in assets from Sam Bankman-Fried. The ruling, issued on February 19, 2025, by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, officially severed Bankman-Fried’s ownership of numerous assets, including $606 million from Robinhood stock sales, two private jets, and over 250 political donations.  

U.S. authorities began seizing these assets in December 2022, shortly after FTX’s bankruptcy. The forfeiture is expected to augment efforts to recover funds for creditors and customers who lost savings when FTX imploded in November 2022.

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Tags: FTXSunil Kavuri

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