FTX’s bankruptcy advisers sued crypto exchange Bybit Fintech Ltd and two corporate affiliates to recover cash and digital assets valued at roughly $953 million that was withdrawn from Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange before it filed chapter 11 a year ago, Bloomberg News reported. The lawsuit filed Friday in Delaware court alleges Bybit’s investment arm, Mirana Corp., had special “VIP” benefits, which most FTX customers didn’t have, and used those special privileges to get most of its assets off Bankman-Fried’s platform before it collapsed in November 2022. Mirana pressured FTX employees to fulfill its withdraw requests as regular customers of FTX.com waited hours trying to get money off the exchange as it collapsed, according to the complaint. The lawsuit seeks to recover assets worth roughly $953 million, a figure that includes more than $327 million Mirana allegedly withdrew from FTX between the early morning of Nov. 7 and Nov. 8 2022, when Bankman-Fried’s exchange paused withdraws. The bankruptcy lawsuit names Bybit Fintech Ltd., Mirana and an affiliated crypto trading firm named Time Research Ltd. The lawsuit also lists as defendants a senior Mirana executive at the time and Singaporean residents whom the complaint alleges either benefited or had a role in the FTX withdraws, which are subject to the bankruptcy suit.
