FTX 重啟夢想因成本、複雜性和價值而破滅

FTX 破產律師和顧問花了大量時間和資源來探索復興 Sam Bankman-Fried 失敗的加密貨幣交易所的可行性。儘管最初得到了債權人和潛在買家的支持，但 FTX 2.0 的想法最終被放棄，因為很明顯該交易所的價值已大幅反彈。儘管債權人聲稱，自 FTX 倒閉以來，由於加密貨幣價格飆升，導致錯失機會且賠償不完全，但管理層認為，在不重啟的情況下全額償還客戶是最可行、最公平的解決方案。

FTX Reboot Dreams Douse Amid Cost, Complexity, and Value Concerns

由於成本、複雜性和價值擔憂，FTX 重啟夢想破滅

The legal and advisory professionals guiding FTX's bankruptcy proceedings have concluded, after an exhaustive six-month exploration, that resuscitating Sam Bankman-Fried's collapsed cryptocurrency exchange is not a viable proposition.

指導 FTX 破產程序的法律和諮詢專業人士經過六個月的詳盡探索後得出結論，復興 Sam Bankman-Fried 倒閉的加密貨幣交易所並不是一個可行的提議。

External observers might question the feasibility of reviving FTX, given its $8 billion balance sheet shortfall and the fraud charges leveled against its erstwhile executives. Yet, the notion of a rebooted exchange, informally dubbed "FTX 2.0," initially garnered support from prominent creditors and drew interest from dozens of potential buyers.

鑑於其 80 億美元的資產負債表缺口以及針對其前任高層的詐欺指控，外部觀察家可能會質疑重振 FTX 的可行性。然而，重新啟動交易所的概念（非正式地稱為“FTX 2.0”）最初獲得了知名債權人的支持，並引起了數十名潛在買家的興趣。

As cryptocurrency prices surged in late 2022, the billions of dollars' worth of crypto assets still under FTX's control appreciated significantly, rendering it possible for the beleaguered company to repay its customers almost entirely. By ensuring a return of 100 cents on the dollar, FTX's bankruptcy management team can fulfill its mandate without resurrecting the exchange.

隨著 2022 年底加密貨幣價格飆升，仍在 FTX 控制下的價值數十億美元的加密資產大幅升值，使得這家陷入困境的公司幾乎可以全額償還客戶。透過確保 1 美元的回報為 100 美分，FTX 的破產管理團隊可以在不復活交易所的情況下完成其任務。

Some creditors, however, argue that the bankruptcy estate has squandered an opportunity to salvage value from the ashes of FTX, once a prominent crypto exchange.

然而，一些債權人認為，破產財產浪費了從曾經著名的加密貨幣交易所 FTX 的廢墟中挽救價值的機會。

"They have destroyed billions of dollars in value," asserts Arush Sehgal, an FTX creditor who briefly consulted for Proof Group, one of the prospective buyers. "They had a thriving business, the No. 2 exchange in the world, and all they had to do was turn it back on. But they failed miserably."

FTX 債權人 Arush Sehgal 斷言：「他們已經摧毀了數十億美元的價值。」他曾為潛在買家之一 Proof Group 做過短暫諮詢。 “他們的業務蒸蒸日上，是世界第二大交易所，他們所要做的就是重新啟動它。但他們慘敗了。”

Former customers lament that they will not be fully compensated, as they are set to receive only the cash equivalent of their crypto holdings as of November 2022, when FTX filed for bankruptcy. Bitcoin, the preeminent cryptocurrency, has since tripled in value, trading near $70,000, close to its record highs. Advocates of an FTX restart argue that customers should receive shares in a revamped exchange to mitigate this lost opportunity.

前客戶感嘆他們無法得到充分補償，因為截至 2022 年 11 月 FTX 申請破產時，他們只能收到相當於其持有的加密貨幣的現金。自那以後，卓越的加密貨幣比特幣的價值已上漲兩倍，交易價格接近 7 萬美元，接近歷史新高。 FTX 重啟的支持者認為，客戶應該在改造後的交易所中獲得股票，以減少失去的機會。

John J. Ray III, the court-appointed CEO of FTX since its bankruptcy filing, maintains that his team explored every avenue to identify buyers or merger partners for the exchange, but the proposals received fell short.

自FTX 申請破產保護以來，法院任命的執行長約翰·J·雷三世(John J. Ray III) 堅稱，他的團隊探索了各種途徑來為該交易所尋找買家或合併夥伴，但收到的建議卻不盡人意。

"In each instance, no credible investor was willing to provide sufficient value to offset the costs, delays, and other risks," Ray stated in a statement to The Wall Street Journal. "We did not receive a single meaningful bid for any intellectual property, as the code was outdated and the brand irrevocably associated with fraud."

雷在給《華爾街日報》的聲明中表示：“在每種情況下，沒有一個可信的投資者願意提供足夠的價值來抵消成本、延誤和其他風險。” “我們沒有收到任何對任何知識產權有意義的出價，因為代碼已經過時，而且該品牌與欺詐有著不可挽回的聯繫。”

Bankman-Fried, scheduled for sentencing on Thursday, faces 40 to 50 years in prison for his role in FTX's implosion, which prosecutors have characterized as one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history.

Bankman-Fried 定於週四宣判，他因參與 FTX 的內爆而面臨 40 至 50 年的監禁，檢察官將其定性為美國歷史上最大的金融詐欺案之一。

The Journal conducted extensive interviews with bidders seeking to revive the crypto exchange, creditors involved in the process, and FTX's post-Chapter 11 management team to unravel the fate of FTX 2.0.

《華爾街日報》對尋求重振加密貨幣交易所的競標者、參與該過程的債權人以及 FTX 第 11 章後的管理團隊進行了廣泛採訪，以揭開 FTX 2.0 的命運。

Initially, it seemed unlikely that FTX customers could recover a substantial portion of their claims. Ray initially broached the idea of a restart in January 2023, expressing that "if there is a path forward on that, then we will not only explore that, we'll do it."

最初，FTX 客戶似乎不太可能收回大部分索賠。雷最初在 2023 年 1 月提出了重啟的想法，並表示“如果有一條前進的道路，那麼我們不僅會探索它，我們還會這樣做。”

Ray, a restructuring veteran best known for overseeing Enron's bankruptcy, lacked crypto experience prior to his FTX appointment. Throughout spring and summer 2023, he privately expressed doubts about the feasibility of a restart, citing concerns over regulatory approval and the intrinsic value of cryptocurrencies.

Ray 是一名重整資深人士，因監督安然公司破產而聞名，在任命 FTX 之前，他缺乏加密貨幣經驗。在整個 2023 年春夏期間，他私下對重啟的可行性表示懷疑，理由是對監管審批和加密貨幣內在價值的擔憂。

Nonetheless, FTX initiated a search for buyers in May. Behind the scenes, the unsecured creditors' committee, a common bankruptcy feature representing the interests of creditors, actively pushed for a restart. At FTX, this committee was predominantly composed of crypto firms, such as the algorithmic trading firm Wintermute Asia.

儘管如此，FTX 在 5 月開始尋找買家。在幕後，代表債權人利益的破產常見特徵無擔保債權人委員會積極推動重啟。在 FTX，該委員會主要由加密貨幣公司組成，例如演算法交易公司 Wintermute Asia。

Friction emerged between the committee and the bankruptcy estate. Some creditors confidentially accused Ray's team of mishandling crypto transactions and moving too slowly on FTX 2.0. The bankruptcy estate denied any such disagreements with the committee over the 2.0 process.

委員會和破產財產之間出現了摩擦。一些債權人私下指控 Ray 的團隊對加密交易處理不當，並且在 FTX 2.0 上進展太慢。破產財產機構否認與委員會在 2.0 程序上有任何此類分歧。

By September, FTX announced that over 75 potential bidders had expressed interest. Three primary suitors ultimately emerged: Bullish, a crypto exchange led by former New York Stock Exchange President Tom Farley; Figure, a fintech startup; and Proof, a Silicon Valley investment firm.

截至 9 月，FTX 宣布已有超過 75 家潛在競標者表達了興趣。最後出現了三個主要追求者：Bullish，由紐約證券交易所前總裁 Tom Farley 領導的加密貨幣交易所；圖，一家金融科技新創公司； Proof是一家矽谷投資公司。

Bidders primarily sought to attract FTX's former customers to their platforms. They envisioned becoming distribution channels for the digital assets that customers would eventually receive through the bankruptcy process, offering a compelling incentive to onboard these customers. Prior to its collapse, FTX boasted over one million users, including high-value "whales" akin to the top-tier gamblers at a casino.

競標者主要尋求吸引 FTX 的前客戶使用他們的平台。他們設想成為客戶最終透過破產程序獲得的數位資產的分銷管道，為這些客戶提供令人信服的激勵措施。在倒閉之前，FTX 擁有超過 100 萬用戶，其中包括類似於賭場頂級賭徒的高價值「鯨魚」。

Bullish emerged as the perceived frontrunner. Farley's firm proposed payment in its own shares, offering FTX customers a stake of approximately 15% in Bullish, with a formula that increased the payout based on Bullish's performance. Additionally, Bullish planned to launch a market for digital tokens representing bankruptcy claims, further incentivizing FTX customers to join their platform.

看漲成為公認的領跑者。 Farley 的公司提議以自己的股票支付，向 FTX 客戶提供 Bullish 約 15% 的股份，並根據 Bullish 的業績公式增加支付金額。此外，Bullish 計劃推出代表破產索賠的數位代幣市場，進一步激勵 FTX 客戶加入其平台。

However, Bullish's proposed deal for FTX fell apart in December. Ray's team expressed disappointment that the FTX 2.0 bids were largely predicated on potential future revenue streams rather than tangible assets. They also felt it would be unfair to effectively coerce FTX customers into joining a new exchange. Moreover, the creditors' committee shifted its stance, concluding that finalizing a complex deal was not worth the time and expense.

然而，Bullish 提出的收購 FTX 的交易在 12 月以失敗告終。 Ray 的團隊對 FTX 2.0 出價主要基於未來潛在收入流而不是有形資產表示失望。他們也認為，有效強迫 FTX 客戶加入新交易所是不公平的。此外，債權人委員會改變了立場，認為敲定一項複雜的交易不值得花費時間和費用。

Andrew Dietderich, a lawyer for FTX, disclosed the stalled reboot efforts at a January 31 court hearing. "The costs and risks of creating a viable exchange from what Mr. Bankman-Fried left in the dumpster were simply too high," he noted.

FTX 的律師 Andrew Dietderich 在 1 月 31 日的法庭聽證會上披露了陷入停滯的重啟工作。 「利用班克曼-弗里德先生留在垃圾箱裡的東西創建一個可行的交易所的成本和風險實在太高了，」他指出。

Days later, Figure CEO Mike Cagney publicly shared details of his bid on X. His proposal involved merging FTX's customer base with a new exchange planned by Figure, to be partially owned by FTX creditors. "This proposal is worth $billions to FTX creditors and instantly establishes an owner-community for our exchange," Cagney tweeted.

幾天后，Figure 執行長 Mike Cagney 公開分享了他對 X 的收購細節。他的提議涉及將 FTX 的客戶群與Figure 計劃的新交易所合併，該交易所將由 FTX 債權人部分擁有。卡格尼在推特上寫道：“這項提案對 FTX 債權人來說價值數十億美元，並立即為我們的交易所建立了一個所有者社區。”

Ray remained unconvinced. "The fairest thing we can do is prioritize returning as much cash as we can to victims, so they can decide what to do with it themselves," he asserted.

雷仍然不相信。他斷言：“我們能做的最公平的事情就是優先向受害者返還盡可能多的現金，這樣他們就可以自己決定如何處理這些錢。”

If you have any further inquiries, please contact Alexander Osipovich at alexo@wsj.com or Alexander Saeedy at alexander.saeedy@wsj.com.

如果您有任何進一步疑問，請聯絡 Alexander Osipovich（電子郵件 alexo@wsj.com）或 Alexander Saeedy（電子郵件 alexander.saeedy@wsj.com）。