The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City has agreed to return $550,000 in donations it received from the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, according to court filings on Friday.
The payments, made in March and May of 2022 by FTX’s U.S. entity West Realm Shires Services, were made shortly before the exchange collapsed in November of that year.
The museum has agreed to return the donations in full and without further litigation.
“The Met wishes to return the Donations to the FTX Debtors, and the FTX Debtors and the Met have engaged in good faith, arm’s length negotiations concerning the return,” said the filing by FTX. “A repayment is to be made within one month of judicial approval.”
The former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was a promoter of effective altruism, using funds raised by FTX exchange to support various causes.
Now under new management, the estate seeks to recoup donations made by the exchange in order to repay creditors, including potentially sizable political donations.
The Met Museum’s decision to return the donations comes amid a broader sell-off in the cryptocurrency market.
Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, has lost more than half of its value in the past six months. This has led to concerns about the financial stability of crypto exchanges like FTX.
The Met Museum’s decision to return the donations has been welcomed by some critics, who had argued that the museum should not accept donations from a company that is involved in the cryptocurrency industry. However, others have criticized the museum, saying that it is overreacting to the recent volatility in the cryptocurrency market.
