The fallout from FTX’s collapse just keeps getting messier. According to a bombshell court filing from the bankrupt crypto exchange, FTX owes a jaw-dropping $3.1 billion to its top 50 creditors alone. That’s right—just 50 names account for a debt pile that’s left over a million clients and investors reeling from losses in the billions after the platform imploded.
Dig into the numbers, and it gets wilder: the top 10 creditors are collectively owed $1.45 billion, with the biggest single claimant out over $226 million. The two heaviest hitters? They’re staring down a combined $429 million hole. Even the “smallest” of the top 50 is owed a hefty $21.3 million. FTX originally pegged its creditor count at 100,000, but that figure’s ballooned to over a million—a number their lawyers admit could still grow as they dig deeper. In the filing, they noted, “The Debtors’ investigation continues… We’re working to get full access to customer data and will update the Top 50 List if needed.”
This all ties back to FTX’s chaotic bankruptcy, which kicked off November 11 after whispers of financial trouble turned into a full-blown meltdown—one of the ugliest in crypto history. Next Tuesday, a bankruptcy hearing’s set to tackle first-day motions, and the pressure’s on. The filing hints at a liquidity crisis that sank the exchange, and regulators worldwide are circling, hungry for answers about what went down under Sam Bankman-Fried’s watch. Even after his exit last week, agencies like the U.S. Attorney’s Office, SEC, CFTC, and state watchdogs are digging into his leadership and FTX’s tangled web of assets.
FTX’s lawyers aren’t mincing words: “There could be more than one million creditors in these Chapter 11 cases.” And yet, amid the wreckage, there’s a faint glimmer of hope. New CEO John Ray says a strategic review found some FTX subsidiaries—both in the U.S. and abroad—still have “solvent balance sheets, responsible management, and valuable franchises.” Accountants even spotted 216 accounts across 36 banks with positive balances, which might offer a lifeline to some creditors.
