Stanford University will return $5.5 million in donations from bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, a spokesperson told Bloomberg.

“We have been in discussions with attorneys for the FTX debtors to recover these gifts, and we will be returning the funds in their entirety,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

“Stanford received gifts from the FTX Foundation and FTX-related companies largely for pandemic-related prevention and research,” they added.

Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX on Monday sued the parents of founder Sam Bankman-Fried, saying that Stanford professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried used the company to enrich themselves at the expense of FTX's customers.

FTX, now being led by turnaround specialist John Ray, said in the suit company founder Sam Bankman-Fried ran FTX as a "family business" and misappropriated billions in customer funds for the benefit of a small circle of insiders, including his parents.

Funds that FTX wants returned included the $5.5 million donation to Stanford between November 2021 and May 2022.

On Tuesday, attorneys for Bankman and Fried called FTX’s allegations “completely false.”

A representative for the two Stanford law professors declined to add further comment to Bloomberg.

FTX, once valued at $32 billion, collapsed in November 2022 with as many as 1 million creditors and $8 billion in liabilities.

Bankman-Fried’s trial begins in federal court in New York on Oct. 3 and is expected to take six weeks. He has pleaded not guilty to seven charges, including fraud.

• FTX Sues Bankman-Fried's Parents for 'Misappropriated Funds'