Sam Bankman-Fried says FTX International had $8 billion in assets when new CEO took over and a 'very substantial recovery' is still possible

"In addition to that, there were numerous potential funding offers–including signed LOIs post chapter 11 filing totaling over $4b."

• Sam Bankman-Fried has resurfaced on Substack and claims the firm could have survived the liquidity crisis. 
• He also claims FTX International had $8 billion in assets before the bankruptcy. 
• "In addition to that, there were numerous potential funding offers–including signed LOIs post chapter 11 filing totaling over $4b."

Sam Bankman-Fried said Thursday that FTX International had $8 billion in assets when new CEO John Ray III took over in November. 

He also expressed regret for FTX's bankruptcy filing and claimed customers can still recover a significant share of their assets.

"FTX International retains significant assets–roughly $8b of assets of varying liquidity as of when Mr. Ray took over," Bankman-Fried wrote in a Substack post. 

The comments came a day after FTX said in a bankruptcy hearing that it has located more than $5 billion in assets as part of its work toward repaying creditors. Previously, it said it had located more than $1 billion.

Bankman-Fried added that he thinks FTX could have survived the liquidity crisis if the firm was given more time to sort out the run on the exchange. 

"In addition to that, there were numerous potential funding offers–including signed LOIs post chapter 11 filing totaling over $4b," he wrote. "I believe that, had FTX International been given a few weeks, it could likely have utilized its illiquid assets and equity to raise enough financing to make customers substantially whole."

But he still held out hope that a "very substantial recovery remains potentially available," noting that FTX US is fully solvent and should be able to return all of its customers' funds.

In addition, FTX International has "many billions of dollars of assets," with the disgraced founder vowing to dedicate nearly all of his personal assets to customers.

Federal authorities have charged Bankman-Fried with fraud in connection with the collapse of his crypto empire. Earlier this month, he pleaded not guilty and said Thursday he didn't steal any funds or stash away billions of dollars. 

Meanwhile, the new FTX CEO has pushed back against Bankman-Fried's claims of the firm's strength, and labeled the fall "a complete failure of corporate controls" and added "a complete absence of trustworthy financial information has occurred here."