FTX Update: FTX Japan Exchange Announces Repayment Plan, SBF Meets with White House Officials Multiple Times This Year

SBF is set to appear in court in New York, USA on 1/3, and as the time approaches, more news has surfaced. Foreign media revealed that SBF and his younger brother Gabriel Bankman-Fried attended at least five meetings at the White House this year. In April, the latter purchased a townhouse in Washington for over $3 million through his non-profit organization Guarding Against Pandemics.

SBF had met with White House officials multiple times before the incident

Bloomberg reported that SBF had at least four meetings with White House officials this year, according to the previous White House visitor records:

• 4/22 meeting with Biden advisor Steve Ricchetti

• 5/12 meeting with Biden advisor Steve Ricchetti

• 5/13 meeting with Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed

• 9/8 meeting with Biden advisor Steve Ricchetti

An anonymous White House official pointed out that the 9/8 meeting was not previously reported, and the 5/12 and 5/13 meetings were essentially part of the same meeting. SBF's brother, Gabriel Bankman-Fried, also appeared in the visitor records of the March and 5/13 meetings. The two brothers participated in at least five meetings at the White House this year.

The meetings focused on the cryptocurrency industry, exchange operations, and Gabe Bankman-Fried's foundation Guarding Against Pandemics.

Previously, Business Insider reported that in April of this year, Gabe Bankman-Fried purchased a townhouse in Washington for over $3 million through his non-profit organization, Guarding Against Pandemics.

Another Japanese exchange announces repayment

Following the repayment plan announced by FTX Japan, another Japanese exchange, Liquid, which was acquired by FTX, also issued a statement.

It stated that they are developing a system so that users of FTX Japan and Liquid Japan can withdraw directly from the web platform in the future. This is only applicable to users who have both FTX Japan and Liquid Japan accounts. The process will proceed as follows:

1. Mid-January: Qualified users of FTX Japan will receive a link to open a Liquid Japan account, while existing account holders will skip this step.

2. Mid-February: Users will be able to log into Liquid Japan and transfer assets from FTX Japan to Liquid Japan.

3. Mid-February: Withdrawal from Liquid Japan.

Bankruptcy judge: to rule on whether Robinhood stocks will be transferred to a neutral account

Previously, it was reported that BlockFi and FTX were both vying for the 7.6% stake in Robinhood claimed by SBF.

After filing for bankruptcy at the end of November, BlockFi sued Emergent Fidelity Technologies Ltd., a subsidiary of SBF, to hand over the Robinhood stocks.

Meanwhile, the restructuring team of FTX requested the court in December to block BlockFi's actions and urged for a structured claims process.

In response, bankruptcy judge Michael Kaplan stated that on 1/9, he will review whether the Robinhood stocks should be transferred to a neutral broker as requested by BlockFi. He will only consider the allocation issues after lawyers from all parties have analyzed the situation.