Dutch prosecutors have sold the remaining cryptocurrency seized from the collapsed trading platform Knaken for €2.2 million. The proceeds represent the only known liquid assets currently available in the bankruptcy estate for potential distribution to creditors.

Court-appointed trustee Carl Hamm confirmed the sale and stated that the funds form the estate’s sole pool of money at present. He has contacted approximately 6,300 individuals who held positions on the platform and cautioned that full recovery of balances appears unlikely.

Bankruptcy and Missing Funds

A Rotterdam court declared Knaken bankrupt on July 16 after prosecutors filed a petition on June 30 in the public interest. Authorities alleged that roughly €7 million in customer funds could not be accounted for. The court determined the company lacked sufficient assets to repay customers in full and noted that users had been blocked from accessing their accounts and balances.

Hamm estimates that customers invested between €10 million and €12 million through cryptocurrency positions, certificates and loans. The €2.2 million from the asset sale covers only a fraction of that total before administrative costs and the ranking of different creditor classes are considered. No projected recovery percentage or distribution timeline has been released.

Some reports place the broader customer base at around 30,000. Customers may still submit claims supported by account statements and other evidence. The trustee must verify those claims, establish legal priority and continue searching for additional assets.

Dispute Over Customer Positions and Accounting

Hamm has stated that customers appeared to hold claims denominated in euros rather than direct ownership of cryptocurrency held in individual wallets. He further alleged that Knaken did not acquire enough digital assets to match the positions displayed in customer accounts. According to the trustee, customer investments and ordinary operating costs had been mixed into a common pool before losses accumulated.

Knaken owner Ronald J. rejected the broader characterization. He maintained that every customer order was executed through a liquidity provider and could be verified by order identification number, execution price and timestamp.

He described the trustee’s account as “outright incorrect and damaging.” Ronald J. did not deny the existence of an uncovered portion of positions. He argued that matching assets existed for most of the roughly 145 supported cryptocurrencies and challenged the €10 million to €12 million investment estimate, saying he neither recognized the figure nor understood its calculation.

A lawyer representing one affected customer has questioned the decision to sell the holdings, asking whose crypto it was and comparing the situation to a garage bankruptcy in which a customer’s car is sold without the owner receiving proceeds.

Seizure and Sale Process

Prosecutors seized Knaken’s remaining cryptocurrency shortly before the bankruptcy declaration and later ordered its sale. Hamm supported the move because cryptocurrency prices can fluctuate sharply during lengthy insolvency proceedings. The legal basis cited was Article 117 of the Dutch Code of Criminal Procedure, which permits the sale of seized property whose value may deteriorate. Proceeds are preserved in euros while ownership and creditor rights are resolved.

Court records also reference a €2.3 million transfer from Knaken to a private company controlled by Ronald J. The court characterized the transaction as involving a conflict of interest. The trustee continues to examine whether additional money, receivables or other assets remain recoverable.

Background and Regulatory Context

Knaken, founded in Rotterdam in 2017, expanded rapidly and gained public visibility through sponsorship arrangements with several Dutch football clubs, including Feyenoord, Sparta, Heracles and Heerenveen, along with a brief partnership involving Ajax. The platform 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, and the national transition period ended on June 30, 2025. Knaken was not listed as an authorized provider when operations ceased.

The company has linked part of its difficulties to the theft of 23 bitcoin in 2020. Those coins were worth approximately €140,000 at the time of the incident. Investigators have not publicly accepted the theft as a full explanation for the shortfall.

A criminal investigation by prosecutors and the financial-crime agency FIOD remains active. Hamm is separately reviewing the company’s assets, liabilities and management conduct. No charges have been announced and no deadline for completing the probe has been set. Ronald J. has indicated he still wishes to propose a settlement to creditors, though no formal agreement or creditor vote has been announced. Any such proposal would need to operate within the court-supervised bankruptcy process.

The €2.2 million sale establishes a starting point for recoveries. Final distributions will depend on verified claims, administrative expenses, creditor priority and the discovery of any further assets.