Crypto exchange FTX ordered to pay $12.7 billion to customers, US CFTC says

(Reuters) -A U.S. court has ordered bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX to pay $12.7 billion in relief to its customers, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Thursday.

In March, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for stealing $8 billion from customers.

“The order requires FTX to pay $8.7 billion in restitution and $4 billion in disgorgement, which will be used to further compensate victims for losses suffered as a result of the massive fraudulent scheme orchestrated by Samuel Bankman-Fried,” the commission said in a statement.

FTX had previously committed to a bankruptcy liquidation that will repay customers whose deposits were locked during the crypto exchange’s late 2022 collapse.

FTX has said that its customers will receive 100% recovery on their claims against the company, based on the value of their accounts at the time the company filed for bankruptcy.

The CFTC agreement resolves a potential roadblock to that repayment, ensuring that the government’s lawsuit against FTX will not reduce the funds available to FTX customers.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward, writing by David Ljunggren; Editing by Rod Nickel)