Dutch prosecutors have sold Knaken’s remaining cryptocurrency for €2.2 million, creating the first identified funds in the bankruptcy estate for potential creditor repayments after the Dutch exchange was declared bankrupt on July 16.
The amount is far below the sums customers are believed to have tied up with the platform. Trustee Carl Hamm said the sale proceeds are currently the estate’s only available money and cautioned that creditors should not expect full repayment.
Sale creates first pool of estate funds
The crypto sale gives Knaken’s bankruptcy estate its first known source of cash for creditor claims. Until now, no other confirmed pool of funds had been identified for distribution.
Even so, the €2.2 million figure is only an opening amount. The trustee has made clear it should not be treated as the final recovery total, and any eventual payouts would still depend on further asset searches, claim verification and the costs of the bankruptcy process.
Customer claims appear to far exceed available funds
Hamm said he contacted around 6,300 customers and estimated that total investments linked to Knaken amount to roughly €10 million to €12 million. That estimate includes cryptocurrency positions, certificates and customer loans.
Against that backdrop, the proceeds from the prosecutors’ sale would cover only a fraction of potential claims. The shortfall could widen further once bankruptcy expenses are deducted and creditor rankings are applied, meaning not all claimants would necessarily be treated the same way in a future distribution.
Bankruptcy followed allegations over missing funds
Knaken was declared bankrupt on July 16 after prosecutors alleged that €7 million remained unaccounted for. The criminal and prosecution processes are still continuing alongside the insolvency case.
At this stage, the article does not report any published recovery percentage or timeline for distributions. That leaves creditors with a confirmed starting sum, but no official estimate yet of how much they may recover or when any payment might be made.
Trustee is still reviewing claims and assets
Customers have been told they can submit claims backed by supporting evidence. The trustee will then review those submissions, verify the amounts, and determine how each claim should be ranked within the bankruptcy estate.
In parallel, the trustee is examining Knaken’s assets, liabilities and management while also looking for additional assets that could increase the money available to creditors. The next confirmed steps are therefore administrative and investigative rather than distributive, with any payouts expected only after that process is completed.
Source: crypto.news