FTX Australia Review 2023 | What Happened & What Now?

FTX Australia Review

Notice: FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange, is no longer operational due to its collapse in November 2022. The collapse was prompted by concerns raised by CoinDesk about potential leverage and solvency issues involving FTX-affiliated trading firm Alameda Research.

What Happened to FTX?

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapsed in November 2022 following concerns raised by CoinDesk about potential leverage and solvency issues involving FTX-affiliated trading firm Alameda Research. FTX faced a liquidity crisis, sought bailout funds, and attempted to sell its non-U.S. business to rival exchange Binance, but ultimately filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on November 11.

FTX founder and former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, was arrested in The Bahamas in December and extradited to the United States to face criminal and civil charges, which he has pleaded innocent to. The collapse of FTX had significant repercussions on the volatile crypto market, which lost billions and fell below a $1 trillion valuation.

Can you use FTX in Australia?

No, the FTX trading platform is currently in liquidation following the collapse.

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FTX Australia Post-Mordem

Documents obtained by Guardian Australia reveal that Australian regulators were actively surveilling cryptocurrency platform FTX six months before its collapse. FTX put its Australian companies into voluntary administration in November 2022 following its bankruptcy filing in the US. Around 30,000 Australian customers were owed money or cryptocurrency from the exchange, in amounts ranging up to $1m. While cryptocurrency is not currently regulated in Australia, FTX was operating in the country with an Australian financial services licence (AFSL) the company obtained by acquiring a company that already held one.

The licence was suspended by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) when FTX went into administration. The documents reveal that ASIC had expressed concerns about how FTX was operating in Australia and had issued notices to the company prior to its collapse.

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