OKX eyes Australia expansion as it returns bankrupt FTX’s $157M

Crypto exchange OKX said it would return $157 million in frozen assets from the bankrupt crypto firms FTX and Alameda Research.

In a March 29 statement, OKX noted that the funds were seized in November 2022 after FTX collapsed. According to the exchange, its early investigations showed that there were assets and accounts related to the bankrupt crypto empire.

It added that it “immediately took action to freeze the associated accounts and safeguard the assets.”

OKX did not provide further information about the kind of assets it was returning.

Following FTX’s collapse, it was hacked for over $600 million. On-chain sleuth ZachXBT reported that the attacker sent $4.1 million in Bitcoin (BTC) to OKX through ChipMixer — OKX later announced that it had frozen this account. It was unclear if these frozen assets were part of those returned to FTX.

The FTX management had identified a massive shortfall in the bankrupt firm’s asset holdings. As of January, court documents showed that the bankrupt firm owed $8.7 billion in total to its customers.

OKX expansion plans continue

Meanwhile, OKX announced it would open an office in Australia soon, according to a March 30 statement.

The exchange did not give a definite timeline for when it plans to open the office.

OKX chief marketing officer Haider Rafique said:

“We see Australia as an indispensable part of this strategy and a key growth market. With such a strong uptake of crypto in Australia already, we’re committed to the local market and aim to build a strong local office.”

OKX added that Australia would play a key role in its growth.

Australia is one of the several countries pushing for crypto regulation. The country’s Finance Minister, Stephen Jones, has argued that crypto assets should be regulated as financial products.

Meanwhile, OKX’s recent move is part of its current global expansion attempt. The exchange already provides services in over 100 countries and recently revealed its intention to apply as a Virtual Assets Service Provider (VASP) in Hong Kong.