In a current bankruptcy case, FTX is arguing for the dismissal of investor claims related to the so-called Sam Coins, stating that they should be considered worthless. During a hearing on March 26, attorneys representing FTX requested a significant reduction in customer claims for a cryptocurrency token connected to the incarcerated founder of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried.
FTX attorney Brian Glueckstein proposed that customer claims for tokens such as MAPS, OXY, SERUM, and BOBA should be vastly reduced or invalidated completely. Glueckstein mentioned that experts had carefully evaluated the value of these assets on the date of the petition and recommended substantial reductions:
"Customers are assigning value to their claims on cryptocurrency assets based on a market that never existed and will not exist."
FTX's valuation expert Sabrina Howell concluded that liquidating OXY and MAP tokens, which were once held by the firm at a significant percentage and had close ties to SBF, would be a lengthy process taking several decades.
Based on their assessments, FTX argued that claims associated with MAPS and OXY tokens should be deemed worthless, despite the assets being valued at over $600 million at current market rates. Additionally, claims tied to SERUM tokens, valued at $509 million, should be reduced by around 58%.
However, customers holding these Sam Coins have opposed these valuations and are contesting the estimates provided by FTX's attorney, claiming that the total value of the four cryptocurrency assets still surpasses $1.1 billion.
MAPS is a native token for the Solana-based travel platform Maps.me, backed by Alameda. The token has experienced a significant drop in value, decreasing by 98% from its all-time high of $2 in May 2021 and currently trading at $0.03.
OXY, the token of the Solana-based Oxygen DeFi brokerage, also supported by Alameda Research, has decreased by 98% from its peak and is now trading at $0.08. SERUM, the token of the decentralized exchange with the same name backed by FTX, has seen a decline of 99.5% from its highest point and is currently priced at $0.06 per token.
Nearly a year after FTX's bankruptcy, Bankman-Fried was convicted of seven fraud charges by the US government. Prosecutors have suggested a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison, which his lawyers argue unfairly portrays him as an immoral supervillain.
