FTX CEO John J. Ray III spent at least several hours last month working on devising a reboot plan for the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX, a recent court filing revealed.
The monthly staffing report and compensation details for John Ray III, who leads the FTX restructuring efforts, showed that during this period the exchange CEO engaged in several activities that may facilitate the revival of the crypto exchange.
Ray explored the subsequent steps required to restart the crypto exchange, while also reviewing and finalizing the FTX 2.0 materials, which would be distributed to investors.
This is noted in the "Summary of Time and Fees by Professional" in which Ray charged $1,040 for less than an hour of work to "Review and finalize 2.0 reboot of exchange material for distribution."
Additionally, these included seeking assistance from cybersecurity firm Sygnia to enhance the security of the crypto trading platform, as well as examining a term sheet for restructuring the exchange as part of the plan.
He also reviewed a summary of steps provided by investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners LP regarding the reboot plan. In April, the CEO maintained constant communication with the investment bank to discuss the details of the reboot plan.
FTX didn't immediately respond to Decrypt's request for comment.
Fresh investment likely required
The new FTX boss first floated the idea of restarting the exchange in January this year.
“There are stakeholders we’re working with who’ve identified what they see is a viable business,” Ray said at the time.
In April, FTX's lead attorney Andy Dietderich also suggested that the crypto exchange may be revived, although there wasn’t “any particular path forward” on the table.
According to Dietderich, restarting the company, regardless of whether it would work globally or be tailored to U.S.-based investors, would likely require raising capital.
The latest court filing revealed that the new CEO also reviewed a list of bidders for FTX 2.0.
VC firm Tribe Capital, which invested in FTX before the latter collapsed in November last year, has reportedly expressed interest in leading a funding round to revive the exchange. The new exchange, per an April Bloomberg report, would continue to use the FTX name.
Boosted by the latest news, FTX’s native token FTT gained as much as 16% on Monday before retreating to $1.09 at the time of writing, according to CoinGecko.