Yes, that’s generally what happens when an unregulated bank goes bankrupt. The list of creditors will be long, and some have priority claims so they get paid first.
Everybody said this can happen. Coinbase was forced to include a warning to this effect in their filings as a public company. But nobody cares when the going is good and FOMO is strong.
Mutual funds and ETFs can have the same problem, but they generally structure it so the fund is a separate entity and a "customer" of the parent company. If the fund house goes bankrupt, the fund is safe because the fund house didn't actually own it.
While I don't touch crypto for the same reason I don't touch Beanie Babies, it's made me think more about what is money, what's intrinsic value, and what protections are in place in case something goes wrong.
They are starting at begining of 2023, I'm creditor, just gave bank account details etc. Most people will get their money back because all assets were converted to fiat from the time of collapse and BTC was worth then magnitudes less than today.
If so, wow'zer.