The FTX Recovery Trust launched its fourth creditor distribution on March 31, 2026, as scheduled. Payments are now arriving in accounts. Eligible creditors should receive funds by April 2 or 3 at the latest, within the one to three business day window. The headline number is $2.2 billion. The headline recovery rate for most creditors is 100 percent or above. Both numbers are accurate, and both numbers are misleading in the same direction. What creditors actually received is the dollar value of their crypto holdings as they stood on November 11, 2022, the day FTX filed for bankruptcy. Not what those holdings are worth today. That distinction is the most important thing to understand as payments land.
Bitcoin was trading at approximately $16,871 on November 11, 2022. It is trading near $66,000 today. Ethereum was at approximately $1,258. It is near $1,980 today. Solana, which was one of the most widely held assets on FTX, was under $14. It trades above $84 today. When FTX says creditors are receiving 100 percent recovery, it means 100 percent of the November 2022 dollar value. Every dollar of appreciation since that date belongs to someone else.
| $2.2B 4th Distribution, Starts March 31 | ~$10B Total Paid to Creditors Since Feb 2025 | Nov 2022 The Price Date That Determines Everything |
FTX Creditor Distributions: $10 Billion Paid Out Since February 2025
Four rounds completed. Fifth scheduled May 29, 2026. Source: FTX Recovery Trust official announcements.
| Round 1 Feb 2025, Convenience Class only | $1.2B | |
| Round 2 May 2025, First major institutional payout | $5.0B | |
| Round 3 Sep 2025 | $1.6B | |
| Round 4, TODAY Mar 31, 2026, Multiple classes hit 100% | $2.2B | |
| Round 5, UPCOMING May 29, 2026, First preferred equity payments | TBD |
Total paid after Round 4: approximately $10 billion. The estate originally recovered over $15 billion in assets, including stakes in Anthropic and Robinhood sold at a profit. The surplus above original claims is what enables the 120% payout for Convenience Class creditors.
The Real Numbers: What 1 Bitcoin, 1 ETH, and 100 SOL on FTX Were Actually Worth
The calculations below use the November 11, 2022 petition-date prices that determine FTX claim values, compared to current market prices as of March 30, 2026. The recovery percentages shown are the cumulative totals that most creditor classes reach after this fourth distribution.
The Recovery Gap: What You Get vs What Your Crypto Is Worth Now
Based on 100% cumulative recovery at petition-date prices. Source: FTX Recovery Trust, market prices March 30, 2026.
| Asset | Nov 2022 Price | Mar 2026 Price | You Get (100% recovery) | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Bitcoin (BTC) | $16,871 | ~$66,000 | $16,871 | -$49,129 |
| 1 Ethereum (ETH) | $1,258 | ~$1,980 | $1,258 | -$722 |
| 100 Solana (SOL) | ~$1,390 | ~$8,600 | $1,390 | -$7,210 |
| Convenience Class (under $50K) 120% cumulative recovery | Gets 20% interest on top of 2022 value | Claim + 20% | Best outcome | |
All payouts are in USD, not crypto. Recipients choose whether to take cash or convert back to crypto through their distribution provider (BitGo, Kraken, or Payoneer). Gap column shows difference between FTX payout and current market value of the same amount of crypto.
The Convenience Class, creditors with claims under $50,000, is the partial exception. They receive 120 percent of their November 2022 claim value, meaning a 20 percent interest premium on top of their petition-date dollar value. That is the best outcome in this distribution. For a creditor with $10,000 in claims at 2022 prices, the payout is $12,000. Still calculated against 2022 prices, but at least with interest.
Sunil Kavuri, the most prominent representative for the largest FTX creditor group, told CoinTelegraph that creditors are not whole at petition date prices, a position confirmed by FTX debtors and the US Department of Justice. When Bitcoin was trading above $110,000 in late 2025, he posted publicly that FTX creditors are not whole. His position is that 100 percent recovery at 2022 prices is not 100 percent recovery in any meaningful sense. The estate’s counterargument is that U.S. bankruptcy law requires claim valuation at the petition date. Both positions are legally and factually correct. They are measuring different things.
How the Distribution Works: Who Got Paid on March 31 and How
This is the fourth distribution in a sequence that began in February 2025. The first round paid approximately $1.2 billion to Convenience Class creditors. The second round in May 2025 was $5 billion, the first major payout for larger institutional claims. The third round in September 2025 released $1.6 billion. The $2.2 billion fourth round brings total repayments to approximately $10 billion.
The distribution is structured across creditor classes with different recovery percentages this round. Dotcom Customer claims, covering non-U.S. customers, receive an 18 percent distribution in this round bringing them toward 96 percent cumulative recovery. U.S. Customer Entitlement Claims receive a final 5 percent distribution reaching 100 percent cumulative recovery. General Unsecured Claims and Digital Asset Loan Claims each receive 15 percent, also reaching 100 percent cumulative. Convenience Class claims reach 120 percent cumulative as noted above.
Funds are distributed through three authorised partners: BitGo, Kraken, or Payoneer, depending on which the creditor selected during the onboarding process. Payments arrive within one to three business days from March 31. Creditors who did not complete KYC verification, submit required tax forms, or register with a distribution partner by the February 14, 2026 record date are not eligible for this round. The FTX Recovery Trust has issued a security advisory alongside the announcement: the Trust will never ask creditors to connect a crypto wallet to receive funds. Any communication requesting wallet connection in relation to FTX distributions is a phishing scam. (The Block, March 18, 2026)
Will $2.2 Billion Hitting Creditor Accounts Move the Crypto Market?
This is the question every trader is asking today. The short answer is probably not dramatically, for three structural reasons.
First, the money arrives in USD, not crypto. Creditors receive dollars from BitGo, Kraken, or Payoneer. Whether those dollars re-enter crypto markets is entirely each creditor’s individual decision. There is no automatic selling pressure on existing crypto markets from this event.
Second, the $2.2 billion is distributed across a large number of creditors over one to three business days. It is not a single large transaction or a coordinated market event. The capital disperses gradually and in small amounts per account.
Third, and most importantly, many FTX creditors spent three years watching crypto markets recover without them. Sentiment among the creditor community ranges from relieved to bitter about the 2022 price calculation. Some will reinvest immediately. Others will take the cash and not return to crypto. The February 2025 first distribution did not produce a visible market impact. The larger May 2025 $5 billion round also produced no sustained directional move attributable to FTX creditor reinvestment.
What is worth watching is the fifth distribution on May 29, 2026, which includes the first-ever payments to preferred equity holders. That class has a separate April 30 record date and involves a different creditor profile than the retail-heavy earlier rounds.
For context on the broader institutional Bitcoin market this week, see our coverage of the American Bitcoin ABTC 7,000 BTC milestone, the Goldman Sachs Bitcoin bottom call, and the Bitcoin Fear Index analysis.
FAQs: FTX Payout March 31, 2026
Related Coverage on CryptoNewsBytes
The market context the FTX payout lands into: extreme fear, Bitcoin 45% below its October peak, and $2.2 billion in fresh USD about to hit creditor accounts.
Goldman’s bottom call landed the same week as the FTX payout. Whether creditors reinvest matters more if Goldman is right about where crypto prices go next.
Corporate Bitcoin accumulation continues while FTX creditors receive 2022 prices in cash. The two stories together illustrate where institutional confidence sits versus where retail creditor experience sits.
FTX is the defining case study for why exchange risk is a different category from hack risk, and why custody and counterparty coverage matter.
The other major crypto fraud case still working through courts. FTX and Terra are the two defining creditor loss events of the last cycle.
Primary sources: The Block, March 18, 2026 | CoinTelegraph, March 2026 | BeInCrypto, March 2026 | FTX Recovery Trust official press release | Delaware Bankruptcy Court filings | Sunil Kavuri creditor representative statements. Published March 30, 2026 | Updated April 1, 2026. This article is for informational purposes only.
