Sam Bankman-Fried has acknowledged his decision to transfer control of FTX to John J. Ray III as his gravest mistake, one that effectively blocked a potential last-minute investment opportunity and ultimately contributed to the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange. FTX user repayments are ongoing, with the estate having returned $7.8 billion in assets so far. Bankman-Fried was recently sentenced to 25 years in prison after being found guilty on multiple felony counts related to his actions at FTX. He claims he signed documents transferring control to Ray minutes before a phone call informing him of a potential investment that could have averted bankruptcy. The exchange’s failure left users with losses exceeding $8.9 billion. Upon assuming control, Ray filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and selected Sullivan & Cromwell to manage the process. This led to over $171 million in legal fees being submitted for their work. The cause of FTX’s collapse was the unauthorized transfer of customer funds by Bankman-Fried to cover losses at Alameda Research, his sister firm with significant financial deficits. This occurred two days before bankruptcy filing, and an attorney from Sullivan & Cromwell had sent a recommendation for Ray as chief restructuring officer. The firm is currently facing legal action from FTX creditors who allege their involvement in the fraud. The lawsuit was withdrawn by creditors in October 2024. Despite the ongoing repayment process to FTX users nearly three years after the collapse, the estate has returned $7.8 billion in recovered assets, with a total of $16.5 billion in assets available for further distributions. Repayments are planned to reach at least 98% of user’s account values from November 2022, representing a compensation rate of 118%.