Media outlets, such as Bloomberg and the Financial Times, demand to make the names of FTX customers public.
In an unfolding bankruptcy case, prominent media outlets are challenging the withholding of crypto exchange FTX non-US customers' identities.
On April 4th, Bloomberg, The Financial Times, The New York Times, and Dow Jones & Company submitted a joint objection to a Delaware Bankruptcy Court against the concealment of customer names.
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The media outlets argued that the press and the public have "a presumptive right of access to bankruptcy filings."
FTX's debtors have the ability to request creditor names to be hidden in bankruptcy filings. However, the media outlets argue that FTX and its customers haven't sufficiently justified the need for secrecy.
In a December 28th filing, the Ad Hoc Committee of Non-US Customers of FTX.com expressed concerns that disclosing the names and private information of non-US customers would increase the risk of identity theft, targeted attacks, and "other injury."
In their recent filing, the media organizations countered that if "permanent sealing" of user identities were permissible based on FTX and the Committee's arguments, then the practice of sealing customer names would become routine in almost every bankruptcy proceeding.
Highlighting the significance of public access in this instance, the media outlets pointed out that the magnitude of the FTX collapse has generated substantial public interest in how the US legal system addresses the rapidly growing and largely unregulated cryptocurrency sector. Media outlets noted:
The sealing of the names of FTX's creditors to date has significantly impeded reporting on, and analysis of, these proceedings, leaving the public—and creditors— largely in the dark as to the United States' enforcement of its bankruptcy laws in the crypto context.
Following the Committee's December 28th filing, on January 11th, Judge John Dorsey approved a three-month extension for redacting customer names, noting that such disclosure could put creditors "at risk."
A hearing regarding this issue is set for April 12th.
