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In
seeking to intervene in the case, the New York Times, Dow Jones,
Bloomberg and the Financial Times said bankruptcy law demands
transparency. Letting customer names remain secret could turn
bankruptcy proceedings into a "farce" if creditors start
fighting anonymously over how much money they should get, the
media companies wrote in a Delaware bankruptcy court filing.
FTX has argued the usual U.S. bankruptcy practice of disclosing
names, addresses and email addresses of creditors, which
includes customers, could expose them to scams and could violate
privacy laws for those who live in Europe.
The company has also said that disclosing identities of as many
as 1 million customers would make it easier for a competitor to
poach them, undermining the value of FTX's platform when it is
looking for buyers.
The U.S. Trustee, part of the U.S. Department of Justice, has
already objected to FTX's request and argued that transparency
helps protect against impropriety in bankruptcy cases.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey said he will not rule on
customer privacy issues before January.
Friday's bankruptcy hearing comes at the end of a dramatic week
for the crypto exchange. Founder Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested
on fraud charges on Monday, FTX CEO John Ray testified before
the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, and FTX opposed Bahamas-based
liquidators' demand for access to its systems and records on
Wednesday.
During Friday's hearing, FTX will also provide an update on its
asset recovery efforts and its dispute with the Bahamas-based
liquidators.
(Reporting by Dietrich Knauth in New York; Editing by Tom Hals,
Amy Stevens and Matthew Lewis)
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