The bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX is set to sell its remaining 41 million Solana (SOL) tokens, valued at $7.65 billion, to institutional investors at a discounted price of around $60 per token. This represents a 68% discount from the current market price.
During the sentencing of FTX co-founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) on March 28, FTX creditor Sunil Kavuri alleged that not all customers have been fully compensated by the exchange’s bankruptcy proceedings. Kavuri accused FTX’s bankruptcy counsel, Sullivan & Cromwell, of disregarding the rights of creditors and liquidating billions of dollars’ worth of crypto assets. He cited an example of a token sold by S&C for 11 cents, which is now trading at two dollars. Kavuri also claimed that FTX had $10 billion worth of Solana tokens, which were sold at a 70% discount.
In a previous statement submitted by Kavuri, he stated that the FTX estate holds 41.1 million Solana tokens that should be distributed to FTX creditors. He noted that the estate planned to sell them for $60 per token, while the current market price is $187. However, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan emphasized that the purpose of the March 28 hearing was solely for SBF’s sentencing and not for addressing the claims of creditors.
There is evidence to support the discounted sales, as Canadian blockchain firm Neptune Digital Assets announced on March 27 that it had acquired 26,964 SOL tokens at $64 per token, representing a 67% discount from the prevailing market price. Although the buyer was not mentioned, the terms of the sale align with the offer conditions provided by the FTX estate.
According to a Bloomberg report on March 7, the discounted SOL tokens will have a vesting period of four years. In addition to the bankruptcy proceedings, FTX creditors have filed a class action against Sullivan and Cromwell, alleging that the firm was involved in the FTX fraud before becoming the exchange’s bankruptcy counsel. Prior to its collapse, FTX was an early investor in the Solana ecosystem.
In related news, Sam Bankman-Fried has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.