FTX bankruptcy consortium sues KuCoin exchange, seeking to recover over $50 million in assets

According to Cointelegraph, Alameda Research, a subsidiary of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has filed a legal lawsuit against KuCoin in an attempt to recover over $50 million in frozen assets.

According to a legal document submitted on October 28th, the FTX debtor immediately confirmed after the bankruptcy proceedings began that Alameda had assets worth approximately $28 million in her KuCoin exchange account at the time (now valued at over $50 million), and KuCoin had locked the account, preventing the debtor from recovering her assets.

Alameda claims that despite multiple contacts through various channels, KuCoin "unreasonably refuses to transfer the assets in the account to the debtor". Alameda argues that KuCoin's actions violate bankruptcy laws, as the company demands both the return of funds and compensation for potential losses caused by delays. The document states that these funds belong to the FTX bankruptcy consortium and should be used to repay creditors.

KuCoin's response

KuCoin explained in an email to Cointelegraph that the reason for these funds being frozen was due to the discovery of suspicious activity. The exchange stated that it has made multiple attempts to directly contact account holders to resolve this matter, but unfortunately, these efforts have not been responded to. KuCoin continues to state:

KuCoin will strictly comply with the orders issued by law enforcement agencies and will not misappropriate any user assets under any circumstances.

FTX was once one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges, which collapsed in November 2022 due to fraud and other misconduct. In October of this year, a US bankruptcy court judge approved FTX's restructuring plan, allowing the company to cease operations and begin repaying users.

According to the terms of the plan, 98% of FTX creditors will receive approximately 119% of the allowed claim amount within 60 days after the plan takes effect, subject to identity verification and other distribution requirements. The repayment amount is based on the asset value of FTX at the time of its bankruptcy in November 2022, rather than the current market price.