The landscape of cryptocurrency exchanges continues to evolve, particularly in light of recent developments surrounding the FTX bankruptcy estate. The estate has publicly challenged the recently announced sale of FTX EU to Backpack, a cryptocurrency exchange and wallet firm established by former FTX and Alameda employees.
In a statement, the FTX bankruptcy estate asserted that Backpack “has no involvement whatsoever in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court-approved process for returning funds to any FTX customers and other creditors.” This statement suggests that the communication from Backpack regarding the sale was made unilaterally, without the knowledge or consent of FTX.
Backpack’s Plans to repay FTX EU creditors were outlined in its announcement; however, the FTX estate has emphasized that Backpack does not have authorization to distribute funds to any FTX customers or creditors, including those formerly associated with FTX EU.
The backdrop of this dispute includes the court’s approval in March 2024 for the sale of FTX EU to Patrick Gruhn and Robin Matzke, who co-founded Digital Assets, a firm acquired by Sam Bankman-Fried in 2021. Gruhn and Matzke have since taken significant roles in FTX’s expansion into the European market.
In an effort to clarify its position, Backpack remarked that it completed the purchase of FTX EU from Gruhn and Matzke, a transaction documented in official public records since June 2024 and sanctioned by the Cyprus financial regulator, CySec. Backpack stated, “As a licensed entity, the transfer of the FTX EU entity was subject to regulatory approval by CySec.” Approval was granted in December 2024, following a comprehensive due diligence process.
Following this regulatory clearance, Backpack expects the FTX estate to comply with the court-approved sales agreement and transfer the shares accordingly. “We look forward to the completion of the transfer so that, like the FTX bankruptcy estate, we can begin to return customer funds to former FTX EU customers,” Backpack’s spokesperson stated in a Thursday communication.
The exchange will rebrand FTX EU as Backpack EU, which will assume full responsibility for distributing funds to former customers of FTX EU.
Patrick Gruhn, the former head of FTX EU, indicated that he initiated the change of control process for FTX EU Ltd. with CySec last May, a prerequisite for transferring shares of the regulated investment firm. Gruhn stated, “In this very complex bankruptcy proceeding, I assume that FTX wanted to clarify that it has no direct relationship with Backpack and will not distribute funds from the U.S. bankruptcy estate. However, FTX EU will be renamed to Backpack EU and will, of course, distribute the former FTX EU funds to the clients.”
As the situation continues to unfold, stakeholders in the cryptocurrency space will be watching closely how these developments impact the returning of funds to affected creditors and the potential regulatory implications for firms like Backpack.
