FTX’s potential plan to relaunch the crypto exchange has attracted the interest of Tribe Capital, the venture capital firm that invested in the platform before FTX collapsed, and is now considering injecting new capital to speed up the process.

The co-founder met with a committee of unsecured FTX creditors in January to discuss an informal offer, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named while discussing confidential talks. Tribe is considering spearheading a $250 million fundraising campaign, including $100 million from itself and its limited partners, one of the sources said.

Founded in 2018, Tribe has been a venture capital investor in both the FTX international exchange and FTX US. With more than $1.6bn under management, the San Francisco-based firm has invested in a number of start-ups, including crypto platform Kraken, payments company Bolt and e-commerce provider Shiprocket.

FTX’s new CEO, intends to make a decision in the second quarter on whether it should restart operations, according to a presentation to the bankruptcy court. A lawyer for FTX said during a hearing last week that the company was still in the early stages of evaluating the idea, and that a relaunch would require significant cash to come from outside investors.

Tribe’s offer in January included about 9 million customer accounts, FTX US, FTX Australia, FTX Japan, FTX EU, FTX International and LedgerX, while excluding a portfolio of venture capital and crypto assets, among others, people said. The new exchange will continue to use the name FTX.

FTT, the exchange’s own token FTX, jumped 18% to $2.16 at 1:02pm in New York following the news.

FTX, the digital asset empire, filed for bankruptcy in November, leaving creditors with at least $11.6bn and destabilising the entire market. Bankman-Fried is awaiting trial in October after pleading not guilty to charges of fraud and campaign finance.

Any attempt to reset the exchange would face significant regulatory and compliance challenges.