FTX to Offload European Arm for $33M

The bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has resolved its European arm, marking a pivotal moment in the company’s restructuring efforts.

This decision was made because finding other buyers for the business was hard. FTX Europe was bought as Digital Assets AG (DAAG) for $323 million in 2021, and it is now back in the hands of its original owners.

Before agreeing to the sale, FTX tried to get back the money it had spent on the purchase. The exchange started legal action, saying that the buy was paid for with client funds and that the price was too high.

However, the startup owners, Patrick Gruhn, and Robin Matzke, vehemently denied these claims and asked the crypto exchange for $256.6 million instead. Reuters reported on February 21 that this disagreement had reached its peak.

A report from Reuters on Feb. 24 declared that FTX had decided to sell FTX Europe back to its founders in a deal worth $32.7 million.

It has been a rough road for FTX Europe. In November 2022, it was included in FTX’s Chapter 11 case in the United States. After filing for bankruptcy, many cryptocurrency platforms fought over the European market, hoping to take some of crypto exchange’s market share.

FTX Europe Acquisition Attempts, Setbacks, and Recovery Plans

American exchange Coinbase tried to buy FTX Europe twice, once in November 2022, when its parent business had a big problem, and again in September 2023. Crypto companies Trek Labs and Crypto.com were also said to be interested.

FTX Europe had a significant loss even though it had only been in Europe for eight months. In March 2023, the division released a website letting European customers request withdrawals. This was a major step forward since the company filed for bankruptcy.

FTX is almost done with its bankruptcy processes and plans to return billions of dollars to its customers. To get investments back from its creditors, the company got permission on Feb. 22 to sell more than $1 billion in shares in the artificial intelligence company Anthropic.