The ongoing bankruptcy proceedings for FTX have already incurred close to $1 billion in legal fees, positioning it among the priciest cases in U.S. history.
As of early January, nearly $948 million has been paid to legal teams handling the Chapter 11 case, with the court approving fees exceeding $952 million. This substantial sum coincides with FTX’s efforts to begin reimbursing its customers, which started on February 18.
A closer look at the breakdown reveals that Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, FTX’s primary law firm, has received over $248 million for its services.
Alvarez and Marsal, the firm advising FTX on financial matters, has been paid around $306 million. Additionally, legal representatives advocating for FTX’s customers have collected approximately $110 million, while John Ray, who stepped in as CEO after FTX’s collapse, has seen his consulting firm earn over $8 million.
Despite the eye-watering fees, some legal experts argue that the costs are justified, as the legal teams have been instrumental in locating and tracking billions of dollars in digital assets and funds. The bankruptcy proceedings remain active, with ongoing efforts to recover more funds from FTX’s scattered accounts.
Notably, lawsuits are still pending, including one against Binance. While FTX’s case ranks as one of the most expensive, it still falls short of the $6 billion in fees from the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, the most costly in U.S. history.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has spotlighted a significant acceleration in institutional crypto adoption, driven largely by the surging popularity of exchange-traded funds and increased use of Coinbase Prime among major corporations.
The latest market turbulence, fueled by geopolitical tensions and investor fear, offered a textbook case of how sentiment swings and whale behavior shape crypto price action.
Jefferies chief market strategist David Zervos believes an upcoming power shift at the Federal Reserve could benefit U.S. equity markets.
Anchorage Digital, a federally chartered crypto custody bank, is urging its institutional clients to move away from major stablecoins like USDC, Agora USD (AUSD), and Usual USD (USD0), recommending instead a shift to the Global Dollar (USDG) — a stablecoin issued by Paxos and backed by a consortium that includes Anchorage itself.