Key Highlights
- Former Head of Data Science says the exchange had enough assets to cover customer deposits despite an $8B liquidity shortfall.
- Filing states the US arm was both solvent and liquid, with enough cash to repay customers immediately.
- Claims challenge the narrative that insolvency caused the collapse, shifting focus to the bankruptcy process itself.
Sam Bankman-Fried has resurfaced the long-running debate over FTX’s collapse by amplifying a sworn court declaration from Dan Chapsky, the former Head of Data Science at FTX.
In a post on X, Bankman-Fried claimed that “FTX was always solvent,” pointing to Chapsky as the most qualified person to assess the exchange’s financial condition. According to the post, when bankruptcy lawyers sought to determine whether FTX was solvent, Chapsky was hired to perform the analysis.
What the Declaration Says
Bankman-Fried shared a link to the court filing along with an image highlighting key sections of Chapsky’s sworn declaration. The filing states:
“12. Both analyses showed that while the international FTX exchange did have a substantial (roughly $8 billion) liquidity shortfall as of November 11, 2022, it was solvent – meaning that it had enough assets to cover customers’ deposits. In my professional opinion, given the nature and value of the assets in FTX’s possession on November 11th, customers of these solvent entities could have been made whole within months – not years – had the exchanges not been placed into omnibus bankruptcy proceedings and abruptly shut down.”
Both analyses indicated that FTX US was solvent and liquid on November 11, 2022, holding sufficient cash reserves to fully repay customers immediately. This finding was later confirmed by the Independent Examiner appointed by the bankruptcy court.
Liquidity vs. Solvency at the Center of the Debate
Chapsky’s declaration draws a sharp distinction between liquidity and solvency, arguing that while the international exchange faced a severe liquidity crunch, its assets were still sufficient to cover customer deposits at the time of the bankruptcy filing.
The statement further says that FTX US had enough assets and cash on hand to repay customers immediately, a conclusion Chapsky notes was later backed by the independent examiner appointed by the court.
Why this matters
This filing directly pushes back against the widely held view that FTX collapsed because it was insolvent. If the court accepts this interpretation, it could change how blame is assigned for customer losses, especially around the decision to shut down the exchanges and roll them into a single bankruptcy process in November 2022.
This is a developing story.
Also Read: Sam Bankman-Fried Seeks Retrial Over ‘Bogus’ FTX Bankruptcy Claims
