- FTT surged 17% in 24 hours, briefly hitting $1.13 before cooling off.
- The token remains 99% below its $84 peak, with no current use case.
- Most volume comes from centralized exchanges, hinting at pure speculation.
FTX’s native token, FTT, staged an unexpected comeback this week, jumping nearly 17% in 24 hours to trade around $0.93. At one point on Sept. 18, the token even touched $1.13 before slipping back, baffling traders who assumed the project had no future after the exchange’s collapse.
What makes the move stranger is that FTT has no real utility today. Trading activity, however, has been fueled by centralized exchanges like Binance, Bitget, Toolbit, and Pionex—suggesting speculative momentum rather than fundamentals is behind the surge.
From Giant to Ghost: FTX’s Fall From Grace
Once one of the world’s largest exchanges, FTX collapsed in November 2022 after a liquidity crunch exposed billions in misused customer funds. Withdrawals froze overnight, and the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, dragging along 130 affiliated entities.
The downfall led to one of the most dramatic fraud trials in financial history. Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX’s former CEO, was convicted in late 2023 on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. By March 2024, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison, with Judge Lewis Kaplan noting SBF’s “remarkable lack of remorse.” He was also ordered to forfeit $14 billion to help repay victims.
Why Is FTT Pumping Now?
Despite the ongoing bankruptcy process and lack of utility, FTT’s chart has suddenly lit up. Over the past week, it’s traded between $0.78 and $1.06, now hovering far below its September 2021 all-time high of $84.18—a staggering 99% collapse from peak.
Speculation points to traders betting on potential scraps of value tied to bankruptcy settlements or simply chasing volatility. But without a clear roadmap or revival plan, FTT’s rally looks more like a speculative ghost run than a sustainable recovery.
