A US Judge has granted FTX, the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, permission to sell its stake in Anthropic, an AI startup company. This will allow FTX to raise funds to repay its customers. FTX had initially invested over $500 million in Anthropic, but its stake was diluted as the company went through additional fundraising rounds. The valuation of Anthropic was expected to reach $15 billion, making FTX’s stake worth over $1 billion. FTX plans to sell its shares at the most opportune time to maximize their value. The proceeds from the sale will be used to repay FTX’s creditors.
FTX Granted Permission to Sell Anthropic Stake
A US bankruptcy judge has approved FTX’s proposal to sell its 7.84% stake in Anthropic, an American AI safety and research company.
FTX had invested over $500 million in Anthropic before the company’s value surged. As the company underwent additional fundraising rounds, FTX’s initial equity stake of over 13.5% became diluted.
The valuation of Anthropic was anticipated to reach $15 billion, increasing the worth of FTX’s stake to over $1 billion. FTX decided to sell its stake and put the money in the bank.
Stake Funds Allocated for Creditors
After selling its stake in Anthropic, FTX plans to use the proceeds to repay all of its creditors.
In December 2023, FTX’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was found guilty of fraud and money laundering. It was revealed that over $8 billion in customer funds had been misappropriated by Bankman-Fried and his associated executives.
Initially, FTX’s creditors rejected the plan to sell the Anthropic stake because they believed FTX had acquired the shares with customer funds. However, they approved the sales proposal after FTX announced its intention to use the proceeds to settle creditors.
The repayments to customers will be based on the prices of crypto assets during FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings over a year ago.