FTX user sues hedge fund set to make more than $1 million from his bankruptcy claim

Former FTX customer Alexander Nikolas Gierczyk, who sold his $1.59 million claim with the bankrupt crypto exchange in November 2023 at a 42% discount to hedge fund Olympus Peak, is suing the firm, alleging it reneged on a deal for additional recovery.

In a Thursday filing with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the Californian resident claims Olympus Peak underpaid him and is now set to make more than $1 million from the deal after U.S. bankruptcy judge John Dorsey recently approved the FTX estate’s reorganization plan .

The estate’s plan is expected to repay FTX customers at between 129% and 146% of their claims value in fiat terms at the point of its bankruptcy , according to the filing. Olympus Peak would have made around $670,000 on the claim at 100% recovery in fiat terms. However, at a 129% recovery rate, the hedge fund stands to make around $1.1 million profit on the claim, and $1.4 million at 146%.

Despite selling at a discount, Gierczyk says he had an "excess claim provision" in his deal with the Greenwich, Connecticut-based hedge fund, providing the right to additional recovery at the same rate for any excess distribution from the bankruptcy.

Hedge funds often purchase claims in distressed assets at a discount, providing claimants with a quick payout while the funds wait for a potentially larger recovery through the bankruptcy process.

“If the Claim is ultimately allowed … in an amount that is greater than the Claim Amount … Buyer will purchase such Excess Claim Amount by paying … an amount equal to the Excess Claim Amount multiplied by the Purchase Rate,” the provision states, according to the filing.

Gierczyk claims to have only agreed to the sale due to this provision being in place “in the event his claim was paid above par through the bankruptcy proceedings.” However, the plaintiff's attorneys allege Olympus Peak “made clear that they would not be fulfilling their end of the bargain.”

Olympus Peak did not immediately return a request for comment from The Block.

FTX’s bankruptcy

FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022. The exchange's CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, was found guilty a year later of seven criminal counts, including two counts each of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and was sentenced to nearly 25 years in prison.

About 94% of creditors in the “dotcom customer entitlement claims” class who returned their ballots — representing about $6.83 billion in claims by value — voted in favor of the reorganization plan, The Block previously reported .

However, the plan garnered criticism from Sunil Kavuri, a representative of the largest FTX creditor group, who said the estate should pay out crypto assets in kind rather than the dollar value at bankruptcy.