If FTX pays anyone back, it will be the institutions that hold their debt.
Edit - better explanations below this
Also a friendly reminder to everyone not to trust any exchange at all with crypto unless you're actively trading it, keep it in a wallet!
+1 to this. Remember the classic phrase that goes something like "Not your keys, not your crypto"
Like the Kraken ToS.
> Ownership. Title to Digital Assets shall at all times remain with you and shall not transfer to Payward, except as provided herein. All interests in Digital Assets we hold for Kraken Accounts are held for customers, are not property of Payward. As the owner of Digital Assets in your Kraken Account, you bear all risk of loss of such Digital Assets. None of the Digital Assets in your Kraken Account are the property of Payward. Payward does not represent or treat assets in your Kraken Account as belonging to Payward. However, a court may disagree with Payward’s treatment of your assets and subject them to claims of Payward’s creditors.
Which means that the current fad of "proof of reserves" means absolutely nothing without the liabilities side, both customer accounts and for the company itself.
And a bank is not the ears of corn in the analogy. The thief here is FTX which is like the bank. You don't blame the corn for being stolen. Yes, blame the thief.