FTX Japan customer-asset 100% return case — the world's first immediate full-return case

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This entry sits under exchanges index. Read it against Japan Domestic VASP Crypto Asset Breach History (2014-2026) for peer / contrast context and FSA crypto-asset exchange registration system — number system / Local Finance Bureau jurisdiction / registration requirements for the broader system / regulatory boundary.

1. Background

2022-11-11, FTX Trading Ltd. and others filed for Chapter 11 . Globally, owing to the liquidity crisis with Alameda Research + the commingling of customer funds with proprietary use, FTX customer assets worldwide were frozen. The Japanese entity FTX Japan (formerly QUOINE), because it complied with Domestic VASP Cold Storage 95% + Segregated Management Regime (trust custody at a trust bank), had its customer assets remain intact — a decisively different outcome.

2. Return timeline

2022-11-10The FSA issued a business-suspension order (partial) + a business-improvement order to FTX Japan
2022-11-30The FSA confirmed FTX Japan’s segregated management of customer assets (trust custody functioning)
2023-02-20The customer-asset return scheme was approved (a withdrawal UI provided on a bitFlyer-partnership basis)
2023-02-21Customer withdrawals began — achieving the world’s first immediate 100% return

3. Institutional significance

An empirical case in which Japan’s segregated-management obligation + trust-custody requirement actually functioned at the time of failure
The effectiveness of the triple structure of FSA Business Improvement Order (BIO) domestic VASP administrative-action history (2018-2026) + JVCEA self-regulation + trust custody
A case cited in global VASP-supervision models (US SEC, EU MiCA, HK SFC, etc.)
Conversely illuminating the dangers of a regime design that permits “proprietary custody + commingling of customer funds”

4. Subsequent developments

2024-07, bitFlyer Holdings made FTX Japan (= QUOINE) a wholly-owned subsidiary. At 2024-08 it was renamed Custodiem and is converting into a crypto-custody business. It is one of the symbolic cases of Domestic Crypto Asset Exchange M&A and Consolidation History (2018-2026).

5. International comparison

US FTX International achieved 100% repayment to creditors at 2025-06 — requiring more than 3 years. By contrast, Japan achieved a full return in about 3 months from the failure. This is a dramatic proof of the difference in regime design, corroborating the effectiveness of the segregated-management + trust-custody model. On Japan Domestic VASP Crypto Asset Breach History (2014-2026), it is the most successful failure-resolution case.

Related:

jp-exchange-custodiem (current entity)
jp-exchange-bitflyer (withdrawal UI provider + parent company)
jp-vasp-cold-storage-segregation-rules
jp-vasp-incident-history
fsa-business-improvement-orders-history
jp-vasp-ma-consolidation-history

Sources: FSA press releases (2022-11-10, 2023-02-20), FTX Japan official notices, Nikkei / ITmedia / Coindesk Japan coverage, US District of Delaware bankruptcy court (PACER) public records.