FTX states that Backpack's acquisition of the EU subsidiary has not yet received court approval.

PANews reported on January 9, citing Cointelegraph, that the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has stated that the acquisition deal of its European branch FTX EU by the cryptocurrency exchange Backpack has not yet received approval from the bankruptcy court, and Backpack has not been authorized to distribute funds to FTX creditors.

Backpack announced on January 7 that it has acquired FTX EU and stated that it will take on the responsibility of repaying debts to EU customers as part of a court-approved bankruptcy process. Backpack founder Armani Ferrante stated that his exchange will not conduct any transactions in the EU until it is able to repay FTX creditors, adding that it may be ready as early as February.

However, in a statement on January 8, FTX stated that Backpack 'claims' the acquisition of FTX EU has not occurred and has not received approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, adding that all statements released by Backpack were made without FTX's knowledge. FTX stated that FTX debtors had previously agreed to sell FTX EU to some 'former insiders' of FTX Europe under a settlement agreement supervised by the bankruptcy court, but only mentioned that it was informed these former insiders had agreed to indirectly transfer FTX EU to Backpack. FTX also noted that Backpack was not granted the authority to manage repayment matters for creditors.