The Metropolitan Museum of Art will voluntarily return donations received from FTX

New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art has agreed to return $550,000 it received in donations from bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX before its financial collapse.

According to legal action, the museum received two payments from FTX subsidiary West Realm Shires Services in March and May 2022 for $300,000 and $250,000, respectively. These funds were intended to support the Met Open Access program, which provides free access to digital images of works of art from the museum’s collection.

In November 2022, FTX filed for bankruptcy, after which the managers of the exchange began to demand the return of donations from various organizations and individuals to whom the former head of FTX Sam Bankman-Fried and his former colleagues transferred money. Released in February Press release, in which the company demanded that politicians and charities that received donations from FTX and its executives return the funds. Otherwise, the managers of the exchange threatened legal consequences. The company alleges that all such payments were made without proper oversight and approval by the FTX Board of Directors.

As a result of negotiations between the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the managers of FTX, the parties reached an agreement on the return of $550,000 to the exchange. At the same time, the museum hastened to disown the disgraced exchange – according to representatives of the institution, they were unaware of the financial problems of FTX at the time of receiving donations and had no ties with the company or its former management.

The funds will be returned to the exchange a month after the court approves the settlement agreement.

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