U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey has approved the defunct crypto exchange FTX to remove customer names from the court filings in its bankruptcy case. The decision followed FTX's testimony that publishing the names would put the customers at risk even if their identifying information, such as email address, is kept confidential. Dorsey said the customers are the most important issue in this case, and they want to ensure that they are protected or do not fall victim to any scams. - Earlier this year, the judge allowed FTX to keep the names of 9 million individual customers private for three months.
- Dorsey also gave FTX permission to temporarily remove the names of companies and institutional investors from its customer lists.
- The ruling cited that these clients' names could be valuable if FTX decides to sell its business, though they do not face the same risks as individual customers.
- FTX will have 90 days to make a new request to remove the names of companies and institutional investors from the court filings.
In early May, media giants Bloomberg, The New York Times, The Financial Times, and Dow Jones requested the U.S. bankruptcy court to release the names of FTX's 9 million customers who lost money on the collapsed exchange. - FTX, previously the third-largest crypto exchange, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2022, with all the 130 entities under the roof of FTX Group.
- The downfall followed the claims that the former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) used customer funds in FTX to compensate for losses at Alameda Research.
- SBF currently faces trial on 13 charges, including bank fraud, money laundering, and bribery, to which he pleaded not guilty.
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