Dutch prosecutors have sold the remaining cryptocurrency seized from the failed trading platform Knaken for €2.2 million, creating the first known pool of funds for creditor claims in the bankruptcy estate.
Rotterdam’s court declared Knaken bankrupt on July 16 after prosecutors alleged that around €7 million remained unaccounted for. Court-appointed trustee Carl Hamm told regional broadcaster Rijnmond that the sale proceeds are currently the estate’s only available money and warned that recoveries for roughly 6,300 customers could remain limited.
Hamm estimates total customer investments through cryptocurrency positions, certificates and customer loans at between €10 million and €12 million. The €2.2 million recovery would cover only part of that estimate before bankruptcy costs and the treatment of different creditor classes. No projected recovery percentage or distribution date has been published.
Knaken owner Ronald J. rejected the trustee’s accounting claims, saying every order placed via Knaken was executed at its liquidity provider and could be checked with an order identification number, execution price and timestamp. He disputed the €10 million to €12 million estimate but acknowledged that part of customer positions lacked coverage.
Prosecutors seized the remaining cryptocurrency shortly before the bankruptcy and ordered its sale under Article 117 of the Dutch Code of Criminal Procedure, which allows the sale of seized property when its value may deteriorate. Court records cited by Dutch media also describe a €2.3 million transfer from Knaken to a private company controlled by Ronald J., which the court reportedly characterized as a conflict of interest.
Knaken stopped regular services after failing to obtain authorization under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto Assets framework. The Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets oversees crypto asset service providers in the Netherlands, and Knaken was not listed as an authorized provider when operations stopped. The platform has also linked part of its financial problems to the theft of 23 bitcoin in 2020, when those coins were worth about €140,000.
Customers can continue submitting claims with account statements and supporting evidence. The trustee must verify claims, determine their legal ranking and search for additional assets before distributions. Prosecutors have not announced charges or named a suspect, and any settlement proposal from Ronald J. would need to fit within the court-supervised bankruptcy process.
