More than $600M left FTX wallets amid the 2022 crypto crisis that made Chapter 11 a central marker of industry contagion before coverage broadened to tech restructurings.
Who they are
Chapter 11 is the U.S. bankruptcy-protection process appearing in coverage as the legal mechanism through which distressed technology, crypto, consumer-internet and software companies seek to reorganize, sell assets, or transfer control to creditors and buyers.
The recent arc
Coverage peaked in 2022Q4 as crypto failures converged around FTX, Alameda and Sam Bankman-Fried: FTX, FTX US and Alameda entered Chapter 11 after the exchange crisis, while BlockFi followed, and the FTX wallet outflows story became the period’s highest-impact headline. That phase extended the earlier failures of Celsius and Voyager and preceded Genesis Global Capital’s January 2023 filing in New York.
The tension
The coverage increasingly centers on whether Chapter 11 preserves an operating business or chiefly formalizes a transfer of value to creditors, lenders and acquirers. Recent cases make that distinction tangible: Regeneron agreed to acquire 23andMe’s assets through a bankruptcy auction, Wolfspeed used a creditor-backed plan to cut debt, and iRobot’s restructuring handed control to secured lender and supplier Shenzhen Picea after regulatory pressure ended Amazon’s proposed deal.
Why it matters
If this trajectory continues, Chapter 11 will remain a key lens for tracking how stressed tech companies are recapitalized, broken up or repositioned rather than simply shut down. The mix of companies—from Anthology and CareerBuilder + Monster to Wolfspeed and iRobot—suggests distress is no longer framed primarily as crypto contagion, although the ultimate outcomes will depend on creditor support, buyers and regulatory constraints.
Related: FTX · Amazon · FTX claims the company was hacked, telling users to delete FTX apps, n · iRobot files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reaches a restructuring agr · Crypto lender Genesis Global Capital files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy i
Chapter 11 has appeared in 51 articles since 2015-09.
Coverage peaked in 2022Q4 with 8 articles.
Frequently mentioned alongside FTX, New York, Alameda, Sam Bankman-Fried.