The FTX Recovery Trust has disclosed a new creditor payout schedule, confirming a $2.2 billion distribution on March 31, 2026. This fourth round continues the exchange’s multi-year effort to reimburse creditors and former customers of the failed platform, following a sequence of disbursements that have totaled billions since 2025.

Eligible claimants will receive funds through their chosen distribution provider within one to three business days, according to the Trust’s announcement. The fourth distribution allocates 18% to Dotcom Customer claims, 5% to US Customer Entitlement Claims, and 15% to both General Unsecured Claims and Digital Asset Loan Claims. Convenience claims will receive a 120% reimbursement under the recovery plan.

Following this round, roughly $10 billion will have been paid out to creditors and former customers of FTX. The fifth round of payments is scheduled for May 29, 2026, according to the Trust.

The reimbursements could influence crypto prices in the near term if creditors and former customers of FTX deploy the recovery funds into digital assets.

The latest update comes as Sam Bankman-Fried, the convicted former CEO, pursues appeals in his criminal case, amid broader questions about how the recovery process will impact victims and the wider crypto market. Bankman-Fried has been the subject of ongoing legal proceedings and related coverage, with reports indicating relocation discussions and various court filings as part of his efforts to challenge the judgment against him.

Key takeaways

• FTX Recovery Trust sets a $2.2 billion fourth distribution for March 31, 2026, with specific allocations: 18% for Dotcom Customer claims, 5% for US Customer Entitlement Claims, and 15% for General Unsecured and Digital Asset Loan Claims; Convenience claims receive 120% reimbursement.
• Totals to date after this round approach about $10 billion paid to creditors and former customers of FTX; the fifth distribution is slated for May 29, 2026.
• Earlier payouts included approximately $1.2 billion (February 2025), $5 billion (May 2025), and $1.6 billion (September 2025), illustrating a pattern of sizable disbursements over 2025–2026.
• Market implications hinge on how recipients deploy funds; reinvestment into crypto could provide near-term price movements, though broader recovery remains uncertain.
• Ongoing legal actions surrounding Sam Bankman-Fried—appeals and related proceedings—continue to add a layer of regulatory and narrative risk to the recovery program.

Fourth distribution details and payout mechanics

The FTX Recovery Trust’s latest announcement confirms a $2.2 billion payout slated for March 31, 2026. Eligible creditors will see payments delivered through their selected distribution provider within one to three business days, marking the fourth installment in a plan designed to unwind the exchange’s collapsed operations. The distribution breakdown targets specific claim categories: 18% for Dotcom Customer claims, 5% for US Customer Entitlement Claims, and 15% for both General Unsecured Claims and Digital Asset Loan Claims, with Convenience claims receiving a 120% reimbursement under the framework.

The structure underscores a phased approach to restitution, balancing the need to advance recovery with the complexities of asset valuation and creditor eligibility. The Trust’s statement emphasizes that the payout will proceed in a timely manner, enabling creditors to access funds relatively quickly after the distribution date.

Progress of the FTX recovery program

The fourth distribution arrives after a year of active creditor payouts. The recovery process began disbursing funds in February 2025 with a $1.2 billion payment, followed by a $5 billion distribution in May 2025. The third round in September 2025 totalled $1.6 billion. With the March 2026 release, overall disbursements push toward $10 billion across all rounds, reflecting the scale and urgency of addressing creditor claims while acknowledging the recovery remains far from complete for many affected parties.

Several creditors and advocacy voices have argued that the recoveries are not fully satisfactory given the losses incurred when FTX collapsed in 2022. Still, the ongoing payouts represent a tangible step in returning value to those impacted, even as the total figure has been a point of contention among some claimants.

Market and regulatory implications

The prospect of creditors receiving cash and potentially choosing to reallocate those funds into crypto markets has drawn attention from market participants. Observers are watching whether the proceeds will be redeployed into Bitcoin, Ether, or other digital assets, potentially providing a short-term catalyst for price moves even as broader market dynamics remain nuanced and uncertain.

Beyond market effects, the recovery program continues to intersect with high-profile legal developments surrounding Sam Bankman-Fried. Appeals and ongoing court activity related to his case contribute to a broader narrative about accountability, investor protection, and the resilience of the crypto industry in the face of high-profile collapse events.

Ongoing oversight and what to watch next

As the fourth distribution lands, attention will turn to the fifth payout on May 29, 2026, and how subsequent rounds will adapt to evolving market conditions and creditor needs. Market watchers will also monitor updates on the total recovered amount, any changes to the distribution schedule, and new information emerging from legal proceedings that could influence the pace or structure of future disbursements.

Looking ahead, observers will assess whether further recoveries will translate into renewed demand for digital assets among creditors or whether the funds will be used for debt settlements, personal liquidity, or other non-crypto purposes. With another major distribution on the horizon, the FTX creditor storyline remains a focal point for investors seeking to understand the long tail of the exchange’s collapse and its implications for market resilience and creditor rights.

S&P Dow Jones Indices has licensed the S&P 500 to TradeXYZ, enabling the launch of the first officially sanctioned perpetual futures contract based on the index.

This marks the first time eligible non-U.S. investors can gain leveraged exposure to the S&P 500 through an officially licensed, digitally native instrument designed for 24/7 trading on a decentralized platform. Unlike traditional S&P 500 futures, the contract carries no fixed expiry, allowing traders to hold long or short positions without rolling.

The S&P 500 sits at the center of a global trading ecosystem generating over $1 trillion in daily volume across linked exposures in exchange-traded futures, options, ETFs, and structured products, the company noted in a press release. The new perp extends that ecosystem on-chain using official SPDJI index data, a distinction TradeXYZ frames as critical for institutional-grade liquidity.

“We believe digitally-native investors should demand the institutional-quality standards that define our indices, and we are thrilled to work with TradeXYZ to do so,” said Cameron Drinkwater, Chief Product & Operations Officer at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

TradeXYZ’s Rapid Rise

TradeXYZ is the perpetuals arm of Unit, the Hyperliquid tokenization layer. The protocol’s XYZ100 market was the first HIP-3 deployment, tracking Nasdaq futures. Launched in October, TradeXYZ began its breakout at the end of November after Hyperliquid rolled out its “growth mode” upgrade, which reduced fees on HIP-3 permissionless perpetuals markets by over 90%, triggering a sharp spike in volumes.

The platform has since crossed $1 billion in open interest and routinely processes more than $1 billion in daily volume, according to DeFiLlama.

Less than a month after deploying XYZ100, the platform added tokenized NVDA and TSLA markets and has continued adding pairs weekly.

The HYPE token rallied roughly 3% to $42 following the announcement, placing it among today’s top gainers amid a broad market selloff.

American Bitcoin (ABTC), a mining and treasury firm tied to the Trump family, now holds more bitcoin BTC$71,228.77 than Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital (GLXY).

The company owns 6,899 BTC, worth about $491 million, edging past Galaxy’s 6,894 BTC to become the 16th largest public holder of the asset, according to data from BitcoinTreasuries.net.

The shift highlights how newer entrants continue to climb the rankings as firms compete to build large bitcoin reserves. At the top remains Michael Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR) with 761,068 BTC. It is followed by Marathon Digital (MARA) and Jack Mallers’ Twenty One Capital. Other major holders include Bullish (BLSH), CoinDesk’s parent company, Coinbase (COIN) and Tesla (TSLA).

American Bitcoin’s rise also underscores the growing role of Trump-affiliated entities in the market. Trump Media & Technology (DJT), the company linked to U.S. President Donald Trump, holds 9,542 BTC.

American Bitcoin, formed in March 2025 when Hut 8 (HUT) launched it as a majority-owned subsidiary focused on large-scale mining and holding bitcoin on its balance sheet. Hut 8 held an 80% stake at launch, with the remaining 20% owned by investors including Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.

Unlike some mining firms that have begun shifting resources toward artificial intelligence infrastructure, American Bitcoin has doubled down on mining. In March 2026, it bought 11,298 ASIC miners for its Drumheller, Alberta site. The machines are expected to lift its capacity by about 12% and add 3.05 exahashes per second, or roughly 0.3% of the global network’s computing power.

Bitcoin recently traded at $71,092, down 4% over the past day.

Losing a race is unusual for the crypto industry’s political action committee, Fairshake, which has recorded a dominant record in the past two congressional elections. But the Illinois primaries this week saw its biggest-ever setback, likely to conclude with a new member of the Senate next year being somebody the PAC spent more than $10 million trying to defeat.

Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton won her Democratic primary, and her state’s Democrat lean means she’s likely to be its next senator after the November general election. One of Fairshake’s affiliates had devoted millions to purchase opposition advertising in that race and to support two of her opponents — representing more than 5% of the funds it’s said it had on-hand this year to devote to the congressional contests.

Not only did that money fail to win the outcome the group aimed for, but Stratton may eventually be a member of the 100-member Senate in which a single lawmaker can have a very potent influence, and she’ll be well aware of the industry’s efforts to oppose her. Crypto advocacy group Stand With Crypto, which evaluates politicians and political candidates, graded Stratton with an “F” on digital assets issues, even though she doesn’t have a significant personal record on crypto policy apart from the state’s industry-opposed regulatory regime signed by her boss last year.

“If you support pro-crypto policies, we will show up big,” Fairshake spokesman Geoff Vetter said in a statement. “If you oppose crypto and American innovation, we will show up big. That message is now clear at both the state level and federal level.”

The industry had mixed results in Illinois, supporting three pro-crypto candidates who won their primaries, and one other who didn’t. A person familiar with the PAC’s strategies said that it saw the loss as a one-off and that it was unlikely that other candidates it opposes down the road will have similar campaign resources they can tap.

Starting with the 2024 elections, Fairshake — primarily backed by Coinbase, a16z and Ripple — has targeted multiple Senate races in which it spent more than $10 million trying to influence the outcome. In its biggest spend in the last cycle, it devoted a towering $40 million to oppose former Senator Sherrod Brown, the Ohio Democrat who as ex-chairman of the Senate Banking Committee stood in the way of crypto legislation. (Brown is trying for a comeback this year, though Fairshake hasn’t yet announced its plan for Brown’s challenge of Senator Jon Husted.)

La Shawn Ford, who won his Illinois 7th District congressional primary to potentially join the House of Representatives next year, was another of Fairshake’s targets in a race in which the PAC spent almost $2.5 million. He accused the PAC of pumping out misleading and defamatory accusations in its ads. While he may represent a future political opponent for the sector, Fairshake celebrated wins for Donna Miller, Melissa Bean and incumbent Representative Nikki Budzinski in other House races in that state.

In 2024, Fairshake and its affiliates supported 53 candidates who ended up in Congress, losing in just five races, though many of the favored candidates were clear frontrunners. The super PAC was widely seen as establishing an industry model for a campaign-finance strategy in which more than $100 million devoted to congressional races (often primaries in districts in which one party has a dominant position) can influence the outcomes for dozens of seats. Fairshake purposefully didn’t craft its political ads to reference its own main aim to foster crypto, but it instead made ads based on whatever was the biggest political vulnerability it saw in opponents or positive points it noted in allies.

Fairshake has been very public about the $193 million war chest it started the campaign season with. The funds aren’t just an election tool. Crypto lobbyists and insiders have acknowledged that it also acts as a caution to sitting lawmakers weighing crypto legislation now moving through Congress. Members know that their decisions on crypto bills could bring either millions of dollars in support or opposition in their campaigns, often far exceeding the amount of money that congressional campaigns can raise from direct donors.

Fairshake doesn’t expect to win everything, but it does expect to win most of the races they get involved with, the person said, and it’ll make the point that opposing crypto innovation will be expensive for politicians.

Some candidates that Fairshake opposed in the past did go on to support crypto initiatives, but Stratton criticized the “MAGA-backed crypto bros” that opposed her. Her crypto intentions in the Senate, if she gets there, remain to be seen.

Read More: Crypto campaign PAC Fairshake marks first wins in 2026 U.S. congressional primaries