Bidders have been given more time to register their interest in the crypto exchange FTX’s Japanese arm, FTX Japan.
The Japanese media outlet CoinPost reported that a bankruptcy court in the United States has pushed back the bidding date for the exchange from March 15 to April 19.
An auction for the Japanese trading platform will now be held on April 26, with the court hopeful of completing a sale by early May.
The court had previously hoped to wrap up a decision on the sale on March 27.
FTX has been given permission to sell its overseas assets to raise funds as bankruptcy proceedings continue. But as creditors appear keen to maximize repayments, they have agreed that it would be beneficial to extend the deadline – and “sell the business on better terms.”
The media outlet noted that, as of last month, 41 companies had registered an interest in acquiring FTX Japan.
Who Will Buy FTX Japan?
Potential buyers include the domestic securities giant Monex Group. The group bought the Coincheck crypto exchange after it suffered a crippling hack in early 2018.
In a recent interview, the Monex CEO expressed a “general interest” in FTX Japan. He suggested that the domestic exchange scene could benefit from a decrease in competition. But this interest has not yet resulted in a public bid for the FTX subsidiary.
Were FTX Japan to be sold to a domestic player, it would be a blow to the international market – which would lose one of its few footholds in East Asia. FTX was able to enter Japan when it helped bail out Liquid, a platform operated by Quoine, in April 2022.
FTX provided the firm with a $120 million emergency loan, later following up with a full takeover.
This granted FTX the chance to acquire Liquid’s official operating license.
But FTX Japan customers may yet find themselves safe from the fallout of FTX’s bankruptcy.
Japanese licensing laws dictate that customer assets are kept separately from exchange funds – in carefully monitored wallets.
While FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings saw all customer wallets on FTX Japan frozen last year, the Japanese subsidiary says that it is waiting to be given the green light to resume withdrawals via another platform.
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