By Dietrich Knauth
       NEW YORK, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Bankrupt crypto exchange
FTX received U.S. court permission on Wednesday to liquidate
cryptocurrency assets, a move the company said would allow it to
repay customers in U.S. dollars and minimize risks related to
price volatility in crypto markets. 
    U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey approved FTX's proposal at
a court hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, allowing FTX to sell up
to $100 million in cryptocurrency per week and enter into
hedging and staking agreements that will allow FTX to minimize
the risk of price volatility and earn passive income on more
mainstream crypto assets like bitcoin and ether.  
    FTX's request was supported by the official committee
appointed to represent its customers in the bankruptcy, and by
an ad hoc committee that represents non-U.S. customers with
deposits on FTX.com's international exchange.
    During the hearing, Dorsey overruled concerns raised by two
FTX customers who said FTX sales could cause crypto prices to
crash and that FTX may not own all of the crypto that it holds
in its accounts. 
    FTX said in court filings it was keenly aware of the risk
that its effort to liquidate coins could move crypto markets. It
said it had hired U.S. crypto firm Galaxy as an investment
advisor in part to manage the risk that "information leakage"
would lead to short-selling activity and sharp declines in the
price of crypto. But keeping its current crypto portfolio intact
also carries risks, potentially locking FTX into holding certain
assets as their prices decline, according to FTX’s court papers.
    Dorsey allowed FTX to increase its liquidation pace to up to
$200 million per week, if both creditors committees agree. 
    FTX said in a Monday court filing it owns $3.4 billion in
cryptocurrencies, including $1.16 billion in Solana, $560
million in bitcoin, and $192 million in ether.
    FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 in the wake of
claims that it misused and lost billions of dollars worth of
customers' crypto deposits. FTX has recovered more than $7
billion in assets to repay customers, and it is pursuing
additional recoveries through lawsuits against FTX insiders and
other defendants that received money from FTX before it went
bankrupt. 
    FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to
charges that he defrauded FTX customers by using their funds to
prop up his own risky investments. Other former FTX executives
have pleaded guilty to criminal charges.

 (Reporting by Dietrich Knauth, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and
David Gregorio)