FTX Bankruptcy Estate Challenges Backpack Exchange’s Acquisition of FTX EU

Tensions have arisen between the FTX bankruptcy estate and Backpack, a wallet firm founded by former FTX employees, over the announced sale of FTX EU to Backpack.

The FTX estate claims the sale was unauthorized and not sanctioned by the US bankruptcy court.
Backpack announced plans to repay FTX EU creditors and launch a regulated crypto derivatives service using licenses obtained from the acquisition.
FTX estate stated Backpack lacks authorization for any distributions to FTX customers or creditors.

Details on FTX EU Sale

The bankruptcy court approved the sale of FTX EU to Patrick Gruhn and Robin Matzke in March 2024.
Records indicate that they transferred the entity to Backpack three months later.
Backpack claims it acquired FTX EU in June, with approval from Cyprus’ financial regulator CySEC expected in December 2024 after a full transaction review.
Backpack asserts that CySEC's approval obligates the FTX estate to transfer shares as per the court-approved agreement.
FTX EU will be rebranded as Backpack EU, focusing on redistributing customer funds.
Patrick Gruhn confirmed the change of control began in May 2024 and supported Backpack's statements.