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Carvana Co., the used-car dealer that was a pandemic winner, is rushing to conserve cash as once-plentiful financing options dry up and business deteriorates, the Wall Street Journal reported. On Friday, Carvana laid off about 1,500 people, its second round in six months. Its weakening finances mean raising funds would be difficult and costly, and it could run out of cash in a year, analysts say. Few companies have been hit harder by rising interest rates than Carvana. The company’s interest expense nearly doubled early this year when it paid up to get financing for an acquisition. Its cost to finance car purchases is up by three-quarters this year, and some of its real estate has lost value. Car buyers, meanwhile, are holding off purchases in the hope that rates fall. In a memo to Carvana’s employees announcing the layoffs, Chief Executive Ernie Garcia III blamed an uncertain economic environment that he said was particularly tough on fast-growing companies that sell products affected by higher interest rates. “We failed to accurately predict how this would all play out and the impact it would have on our business,” he said.

Cryptocurrency lending company Genesis has refuted speculation that it is planning an “imminent” bankruptcy filing should it fail to cover a $1 billion shortfall caused by the fall of crypto exchange FTX, Cointelegraph.com reported. The firm has reportedly faced difficulties raising money for its lending unit and told investors it would have to file for bankruptcy, according to a Bloomberg report yesterday, citing people familiar with the matter. On Nov. 16, Genesis announced it had temporarily suspended withdrawals citing “unprecedented market turmoil” after FTX's collapse. The company previously revealed on Nov. 10 it had around $175 million worth of funds stuck in an FTX trading account.

FTX is expected to make its debut appearance today in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, where its new management is expected to recount events leading up to the cryptocurrency platform’s sudden collapse and explain the steps it has since taken to secure customer funds and other assets, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. FTX’s lawyers are advancing an unprecedented chapter 11 case marked already by allegations of major failures against its former leadership and a budding jurisdictional dispute with the government of the Bahamas, where the firm’s inner circle ran its doomed crypto operation. Contagion is still spreading from the failure of FTX, and the impact on its one million estimated customers won’t be known for some time. FTX's new management is now seeking to pay a cybersecurity services provider and other vendors involved in running its business operations. The firm is also seeking to establish a new system to manage its remaining cash and keep employees on the payroll during bankruptcy. That may not be an easy task. FTX advisers said in court papers that it suffered “extraordinary attrition” before filing chapter 11 last week. The new management is also expected to update the court on an emerging dispute with public officials in the Bahamas, where FTX founder and former chief executive Sam Bankman -Fried resides. Tuesday’s hearing could also provide additional information on transfers that were made out of FTX following the chapter 11 filing.

The various divisions of Sam Bankman-Fried's crumbling set of companies have $1.2 billion in cash as of Nov. 20, far below the $3.1 billion it owes its top 50 creditors, court documents show, CoinDesk.com reported. About $751 million of that is held in debtor entities and the rest, $488 million, is in non-debtor entities, according to the document, filed on Monday by FTX's proposed financial advisor, Alvarez & Marsal North America. About $514 million is unrestricted cash, $260 million is custodial and $465 million is restricted cash, which is earmarked for specific purposes like loan repayments and can't be used for general business purposes. Alameda Research has the largest reserve of cash out of the various entities at $393 million, while FTX Japan has the largest reserve of cash at $171 million of firms under the FTX silo. The Japanese crypto exchange has reportedly said it is preparing to restart withdrawals by the end of the year.

The Golden State Warriors were sued on Monday by an FTX account holder who accused the reigning National Basketball Association champions of fraudulently promoting the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, Reuters reported. Elliott Lam, a Canadian citizen and Hong Kong resident who said he lost $750,000 in his FTX yield-bearing account, filed his proposed class-action lawsuit in San Francisco federal court. Other defendants include Sam Bankman-Fried, who founded FTX, and Caroline Ellison, who led Bankman-Fried's trading firm Alameda Research. Lam accused the defendants of falsely representing that FTX was a "viable and safe way to invest in crypto," in order to deceive consumers into investing there. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for people outside the United States with FTX yield-bearing accounts.

Collapsed crypto exchange FTX said on Saturday it has launched a strategic review of its global assets and is preparing for the sale or reorganization of some businesses, Reuters reported. FTX, along with about 101 affiliated firms, also sought court relief to allow the operation of a new global cash management system and payment to its critical vendors. The exchange and its affiliates filed for bankruptcy in Delaware on Nov. 11 in one of the highest-profile crypto blowups, leaving an estimated 1 million customers and other investors facing total losses in the billions of dollars. FTX will explore sales, recapitalizations or other strategic transactions for some of its units, the company's new Chief Executive officer John Ray said in a statement. In a court filing on Saturday FTX asked for permission to pay pre-petition claims of up to $9.3 million to its critical vendors after an interim order and up to $17.5 million after the entry of the final order. The exchange said that if it fails to receive the requested court relief, it will result in "immediate and irreparable harm" to its businesses.

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which has filed for U.S. bankruptcy court protection, said it owes its 50 biggest creditors nearly $3.1 billion, Reuters reported. The exchange owes about $1.45 billion to its top ten creditors, it said in a court filing on Saturday, without naming them. FTX and its affiliates filed for bankruptcy in Delaware on Nov. 11 in one of the highest-profile crypto blowups, leaving an estimated 1 million customers and other investors facing total losses in the billions of dollars. The crypto exchange said on Saturday it has launched a strategic review of its global assets and is preparing for the sale or reorganization of some businesses. A hearing on FTX's so-called first-day motions is set for Tuesday morning before a U.S. bankruptcy judge, according to a separate court filing.

Customers of beleaguered crypto exchange FTX are losing hope they will ever see their money again, the Wall Street Journal reported. The company’s massive financial problems began spilling into the open early this month, and FTX was quick to halt withdrawals from its international unit. American customers had hoped they might be luckier, but many of them haven’t been able to get their money out either. Where the money could be — and whether it will ever arrive — is anyone’s guess. FTX filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11. John J. Ray, the company’s new CEO who also unwound Enron, said in a court filing Thursday that “only a fraction” of FTX’s digital assets have been located and secured. Determining how much cash is left has been difficult too, according to the bankruptcy filings, since FTX didn’t keep an accurate list of its bank accounts. FTX said in a statement Saturday that it is working “to maximize recoverable value for stakeholders.” “I respectfully ask all of our employees, vendors, customers, regulators and government stakeholders to be patient with us as we put in place the arrangements that corporate governance failures at FTX prevented us from putting in place prior to filing our Chapter 11 cases,” Mr. Ray said in the statement.