FTX Token (FTT) was the in-house token of FTX, which collapsed in November 2022. FTT holders get no recovery from the bankruptcy. FTX's Chapter 11 plan cancels FTT claims, while customers and other creditors are being repaid in cash. The latest payout was the fifth distribution, on 31 July 2026. In it, cumulative recoveries reached 105% of allowed claims for both FTX.com and U.S. customers. FTT is still an ERC-20 token on Ethereum. It is no longer tied to a working business: the exchange that gave it a use is gone, and the token has no claim on what the bankruptcy estate recovers.
The latest: where things stand in October 2026
- 17 July 2026: FTX announced a fifth distribution of about $900 million, starting 31 July 2026. Each payout below is followed by the cumulative total in brackets:
- FTX.com customers (Class 5A): 9% more (105%). - U.S. customers (Class 5B): 5% more (105%). - General unsecured and digital asset loan claims (Classes 6A and 6B): 3% more (103%). - Convenience claims (Class 7): 120% cumulative. - Eligible preferred equity holders: a separate $18 million payment, bringing their fund's total to $95 million.
- 12 June 2026: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed Sam Bankman-Fried's fraud and conspiracy convictions and his sentence (United States v. Bankman-Fried, No. 24-961). The court held that the wire fraud statute covers temporary misappropriation of property, so a plan to repay customers later is no defence. The mandate issued on 4 August 2026.
- 26 May 2026: The estate asked the court to cut its disputed claims reserve from $2.4 billion to $1.8 billion, which frees $0.6 billion for distribution, subject to court approval. It also set 16 June 2026 as the record date for the July payout.
- 18 March 2026: The fourth distribution, about $2.2 billion, began on 31 March 2026. It brought FTX.com customers to 96% and U.S. customers to 100%.
None of these payouts goes to FTT holders. The trust's releases say later record and payment dates will be announced separately.
Why FTT holders get nothing
FTX's bankruptcy advisers treated FTT as equity-like, not as a customer balance. In U.S. reorganisations, equity usually ranks last and is wiped out when assets fall short.
- Draft plan (2023): The plan cited the "equity-like characteristics of FTT" and provided that FTT claims would be cancelled and extinguished on the effective date, with no distribution.
- Plan filed 7 May 2024: Allowed FTT claims were to be "canceled or released". FTT was left out of the $14.5–16.3 billion the estate forecast for creditors.
- Confirmation: Judge John Dorsey of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware approved the plan at a hearing on 7 October 2024. It took effect on 3 January 2025.
The practical point: customer balances held on FTX were claims against the estate and are being repaid. FTT tokens are a separate asset, and the plan pays nothing for them.
How FTT caused the collapse
FTT was more than a casualty of the collapse. It sat at the centre of it.
- 2 November 2022: CoinDesk published a private balance sheet for Alameda Research, the trading firm owned by FTX's founder. As of 30 June 2022 it showed $14.6 billion of assets. The largest item was $3.66 billion of "unlocked FTT", and the third largest was $2.16 billion of "FTT collateral". Liabilities totalled $8 billion, mostly $7.4 billion of loans.
- Days later: The chief executive of a larger rival exchange said his firm would sell its FTT holdings. FTT's price fell and customers rushed to withdraw.
- November 2022: FTX filed for Chapter 11 in the District of Delaware. The estate later reported that FTX.com held only 0.1% of the Bitcoin and 1.2% of the Ether its customers believed it held.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged former Alameda chief executive Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang on 21 December 2022. The SEC called FTT "an FTX-issued exchange crypto security token". It alleged that:
- Alameda bought large amounts of FTT on the open market to support its price.
- FTT "served as collateral for undisclosed loans by FTX of its customers' assets to Alameda".
- Propping up the price inflated the value of Alameda's FTT holdings and misled investors about FTX's risk.
These are allegations from the SEC's complaint. The complaint also argues FTT was sold as an investment contract, and therefore a security, from the start.
Do you get anything back from FTX?
Say what you held at FTX to see where the bankruptcy plan leaves you.
What did you hold?
- FTT tokens → next question
- A customer account balance on FTX → next question
Which customer group was your balance in?
- FTX.com customer (Class 5A) → Your balance is a claim being repaid
- U.S. customer (Class 5B) → Your balance is a claim being repaid
Has anyone offered to convert your FTT into an FTX claim, or asked you to connect your wallet?
Customer balances are claims against the estate. The fourth distribution, on 31 March 2026, brought FTX.com customers to 96%. The fifth, on 31 July 2026, added 9%, so cumulative recoveries reached 105% of allowed claims. The trust says it will announce later record and payment dates separately.
Customer balances are claims against the estate. The fourth distribution, on 31 March 2026, brought U.S. customers to 100%. The fifth, on 31 July 2026, added 5%, so cumulative recoveries reached 105% of allowed claims. The trust says it will announce later record and payment dates separately.
The Chapter 11 plan, approved on 7 October 2024 and in effect since 3 January 2025, cancels FTT claims and pays nothing for them. FTT still trades, but no exchange revenue, burn or utility supports it, so any price reflects trading sentiment alone.
The plan pays FTT holders nothing, so FTT is not a route to an FTX payout. The trust says it will never ask you to connect your wallets, and it tells customers to check any FTX-related message with FTX Customer Support.
This sorts readers only by what the article reports: it cannot check whether your own claim was allowed, how large it is, what FTT trades at, or how tax treats any of it.
How FTT was designed
- Standard: ERC-20 token on Ethereum. CoinDesk's data page gives 21 April 2019 as the launch date. It cannot be mined.
- Initial supply: According to the SEC complaint, about 350 million FTT were issued around May 2019. Half was set aside for the company and unlocked over three years, and about 73 million of the other half were sold in pre-sales at $0.10 to $0.80.
- Supply today: CoinDesk's data page lists total and circulating supply at 328.90 million FTT. The drop from 350 million reflects tokens burned before the collapse. Burning stopped when the exchange stopped earning fees.
- Buy-and-burn: FTX used part of its exchange revenue to buy FTT on the open market and destroy it.
- Uses: FTT's uses were tied to the FTX exchange, and they ended when the exchange shut down.
What this means for anyone holding FTT
- No estate recovery: The plan pays FTT holders nothing. FTT is not a route to an FTX payout.
- Price without a business: FTT still trades, but no exchange revenue, burn or utility supports it. Any price reflects trading sentiment alone.
- Scam warning: The trust says it "will never ask you to connect your wallets". It tells customers to check any FTX-related message with FTX Customer Support. Offers to "convert" FTT into an FTX claim fit that warning.
- The wider lesson: A token issued by a platform is not a claim on that platform's assets. When the issuer fails, the token can lose its use and its legal standing together. Customer deposits are treated differently.
Who was behind FTX
Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang co-founded FTX. A jury convicted Bankman-Fried on 2 November 2023. On 28 March 2024, Judge Lewis Kaplan sentenced him to 25 years in prison and ordered forfeiture of about $11 billion. The U.S. Justice Department says he misappropriated billions of dollars of FTX customer funds. It also says he defrauded FTX investors of more than $1.7 billion and Alameda's lenders of more than $1.3 billion. The Second Circuit upheld the conviction and sentence on 12 June 2026.
This article is not investment advice.
