NEW YORK — Lawyers for FTX disclosed Tuesday that a “substantial amount” of assets has been stolen from the accounts of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange, diminishing the odds that its millions of investors will get their money back.
The admission came during FTX’s first court appearance since the company filed for bankruptcy protection on November 11. Such hearings typically happen days after a filing, but this one was delayed because FTX’s collapse came suddenly and management kept few if any records.
“This company was run by inexperienced, unsophisticated and potentially personally compromised individuals,” said James Bromley, a partner with Sullivan & Cromwell, the law firm hired by FTX’s debt holders to navigate the company through bankruptcy.