FTX Has Already Distributed $7.1B: Next Round Could Hit Early 2026

FTX creditor representative Sunil Kavuri said the bankrupt exchange has now completed three payout rounds of about $7.1 billion.

The bankruptcy estate of the now-defunct crypto exchange, which collapsed in November 2022, has taken almost three years to reach this stage.

Next Distribution Lined Up for January

According to his latest update on X, FTX distributed $454 million on February 18 to claims under $50,000, followed by a much larger $5 billion payout on May 30 that covered both sub-$50,000 and larger claims.

A third tranche of $1.6 billion was paid out on September 30, again across both claim categories. Kavuri estimated that the total FTX assets at around $16-17 billion, and said the next distribution round is currently expected in January 2026, pending a record date confirmation in December.

The latest development emerged just days after the FTX Recovery Trust withdrew its request to restrict payouts to creditors in nearly 50 foreign jurisdictions, including China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Ukraine, following intense backlash from affected creditors. The motion was originally filed in July and aimed to pause distributions in countries with unclear or restrictive crypto rules.

But even as funds are steadily being returned, the political, legal, and reputational battle around this case has not faded, as the convicted founder of the exchange, Sam Bankman-Fried, continues trying to influence the narrative from federal prison.

SBF Pops Up, Again

Earlier this month, Bankman-Fried re-entered the bankruptcy conversation to again question the motives of the bankruptcy estate and to imply that the collapse of FTX was not due to fraud, misappropriation, or reckless leverage, but something closer to sabotage or bureaucratic obstruction.

Even this week, SBF replied to a satirical post accusing current CEO John J. Ray III of intentionally keeping a “perfectly solvent” platform in bankruptcy just to generate record professional fees and destroy estate value, a claim he partly endorsed by saying “this is basically what happened,” even though forensic accountants, prosecutors, and bankruptcy experts have repeatedly said this narrative is false and misleading.

His comments instantly triggered a backlash. On-chain investigator ZachXBT directly asked him to explain the alleged $40 million payment to Chinese authorities that he claims SBF hid from the public and prosecutors. At the same time, venture capitalist Adam Cochran stated that this continued attempt to recast the collapse shows SBF remains unrepentant and unwilling to accept responsibility for the damage done to millions of users.

That controversy followed an episode when Bankman-Fried’s long-dormant X account posted a 14-page document claiming FTX “was never insolvent” and could have been sitting on a $136 billion portfolio today if lawyers had not intervened. Legal experts and former creditors quickly pointed out that the claim was almost identical to arguments already rejected in court throughout 2023 and 2024, and that forensic audits traced billions in missing customer funds.

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