FTX Revival News Lifts Token and Adds Millions to Coffers

As FTX mulls a return to operations, its FTT token stash is growing more valuable.

This, as the CEO tasked with steering the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange through its bankruptcy, John J. Ray III, announced yesterday (Jan. 19) that FTX is exploring a return to crypto trading operations, per a report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

“I’m glad Mr. Ray is finally paying lip service to turning the exchange back on after months of squashing such efforts!” former CEO and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted in response to the news, adding that he is still “waiting for [Ray] to finally admit FTX US is solvent and give customers their money back.”

FTX’s self-minted token FTT, which was at the center of the nearly $8 billion run on the exchange’s assets by started by rival exchange Binance’s CEO Changpeng Zhao, jumped nearly 33% on the news of a potential restart.

Considered a so-called “ghost token,” aka a digital asset still trading in circulation but not tethered to any viable business, the FTT token’s rise to a value north of $2 represents a substantial increase from the asset’s all-time low of just $0.82 near the end of 2022.

Despite FTX’s complete implosion, the company’s native token has never dipped to zero, and trading volumes remain surprisingly high — likely driven by traders continuing to make bets on its volatile swings.

Given that FTX still holds around half a billion dollars worth of FTT tokens on its balance sheet, any increase in value represents a comparable cash inflow for creditors. Thursday’s announcement alone netted the FTX estate an estimated $100 million or so.

Welcome to the FTX Casino

Bitcoin is also trading up in January and has recovered all its lost value since FTX’s disastrous collapse sent tremors throughout the broader digital asset marketplace.

By restarting FTX’s trading operations, Ray could be thinking he can do the same and make the exchange’s over a million customers as close to whole again as possible. A rising tide lifts all boats, after all.

Per the WSJ coverage, customers have lauded FTX’s technology and suggested that a revival of FTX.com would recover more value than liquidating the firm’s assets. “There are stakeholders we’re working with who’ve identified what they see is a viable business,” Ray has said.

As PYMNTS reported Tuesday (Jan. 17), the FTX Debtors group and the restructuring committee led by Ray have identified $5.5 billion in liquid cash and assets in the FTX estate. This number is up from a previously shared estimate of $5 billion but still represents a “substantial shortfall of digital assets.”

The sheer volume of alternative crypto assets on FTX’s books could sway Ray into re-opening the crypto casino to fulfill his primary responsibility of recovering as much money as possible to repay FTX’s creditors.

In a recent court filing, lawyers for the FTX Debtors revealed that Alameda Research, the sister hedge fund of FTX, holds more than 20 alternative digital assets on its balance sheet in such large quantities as to make them impossible to sell on the open market without substantially affecting their values.

FTX purportedly made legitimate, real money by charging the traders operating on its platform transaction and custody fees. If FTX relaunches, people keep trading and the company again begins accumulating profits, perhaps over enough time those gains may be enough to fill the chasm caused by the failed exchange’s alleged commingling and subsequent loss of assets.

John Ray’s job is to identify and plumb any remaining pockets of value and plumb them. Per the WSJ, former FTX lieutenants Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison are helping the CEO track the company’s enterprise funds. Both of the one-time executives have pleaded guilty to criminal charges and are cooperating with authorities in their broader investigations into FTX.

“Everything is on the table,” Ray said, as quoted by the WSJ. “If there is a path forward on that, then we will not only explore that, we’ll do it.”

Ray has continued to clash with Bankman-Fried, who maintains his own innocence in the face of eight criminal charges ranging from fraud to conspiracy and continues to publicly proclaim that he is best suited to run his former company. Bankman-Fried has said it was a mistake for FTX to file for chapter 11 so suddenly, lashing out at his law firm and frequently criticizing the new CEO’s handling of the company.

“We don’t need to be dialoguing with [Bankman-Fried],” Ray said, per the WSJ. “He hasn’t told us anything that I don’t already know.”

The restructuring agent added that he viewed the former founder’s comments as “unhelpful and self-serving.”

Flying Cars Can Wait: CES Shows Future Is Robots That Cool Your Soup, Pick Up Socks

AI Me gadget from CES 2025

What do the movies “Blade Runner,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Back to the Future Part II” and Spike Jonze’s “Her” all have in common?

These science fiction movies, each depicting various versions of a future full of fantastic technologies, all take place in the year 2025 or earlier.

Though some of the high-tech gadgets and futuristic innovations seen in these films, such as hoverboards and flying cars, haven’t quite materialized in everyday life, they have sparked imagination and set the stage for the very real innovations. As the dozens of groundbreaking products and wacky gadgets that debuted at the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week reveal, the future is certainly now.

CES, after all, rarely disappoints when it comes to providing a first-look at some truly strange gadgets that might just represent the ultimate showcase of tomorrow’s technology.

From artificial intelligence (AI) being embedded into everything and smarter than ever home devices, to autonomous robotic companions and wearable tech that both bends and blends reality, many of the inventions that once seemed out of reach in Hollywood films are now being unveiled on the convention floor.

See also: The Five Not-So-Obvious Things That Will Change the Digital Economy in 2025

Could Smart Home Robots Revolutionize Daily Life?

It’s becoming clear that today’s technological advancements are increasingly bridging the gap between what was once imagined and what’s now becoming real.

For example, smart home robots are no longer a futuristic fantasy — they are being positioned as potentially indispensable components of modern households.

CES 2025 saw the debut of the Roborock Saros Z70, a robot vacuum with a telescopic, five-axis arm. Rosey the Robot from “The Jetsons” has nothing on this little gadget, which its maker describes as “a mechanical arm that sees and thinks,” and is able to pick up and put away items like socks, shoes, tissues and more.

For more serious household tasks, the SwitchBot Multitasking Household Robot K20+ Pro was also unveiled at CES 2025. “Whether it’s delivering objects, vacuuming, monitoring pets, purifying the air, providing home security, or even mobilizing smart tablets, the K20+ Pro juggles household management with ease … from delivering food and drinks to carrying small packages,” said a company release.

Read more: Training Robots Using Video Games Could Democratize Warehouse Automation

The K20+ Pro’s core is designed for customization and flexibility, serving as a modular foundation that allows users to create, adapt, and personalize the robot for a wide variety of innovative applications, and can connect with third-party smart devices like Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri, ensuring integration into any smart home ecosystem.

Elsewhere, TCL premiered its “AI Me” (Amy) concept companion robot, complete with animated eyes, autonomous movement and an AI-powered camera on its head; while Dreame showcased its X50 Ultra robot vacuum that has legs to avoid obstacles.

As smart home technology continues to evolve, the integration of robots designed to assist in daily activities could significantly alter how we interact with our homes, manage tasks and even shape the future of work.

TomBot, for example, debuted an emotional robotic lap dog, Jennie, an AI robot therapy dog designed to keep seniors company. On the more playful side of things, Tokyo robotics startup Yukai Engineering introduced the Nékojita FuFu, a portable cat-shaped robot that can blow air to cool hot food or drinks.

It wasn’t solely robotics for use at home being showcased at CES. John Deere used the Las Vegas event to reveal its own autonomous agricultural products. The fully autonomous machines were on display from Jan. 7 to 10, and were a bit bigger in size, if equivalently less cute, than the TomBot puppies.

Read more: Google Reportedly Bringing Gemini AI to TV Sets

The Future Is Calling and Consumers Can Answer Anywhere

Behind the strangely futuristic convenience of a robot picking up your laundry and taking out the trash while it vacuums and interfaces with the rest of your household appliances lies a much larger story: the rise of the smart economy.

As CES 2025 showed, augmented reality (AR) glasses are the eye candy of the smart economy. A host of futuristic specs were unveiled, capable of a range of tasks that turn the wearer into a high-tech superhero.

Halliday showcased “the world’s first proactive AI glasses with invisible display,” while freshly debuted Loomos.AI glasses offer a ChatGPT-4o integrated AI assistant.

But other appendages remain up for grabs, and innovative products from smart rings to apps like WowMouse, which allows smartwatch wearers to control devices using just their gestures and fingers, are vying for market share in ways that aim to make daily life more convenient, efficient and secure.