FTX Selling Majority Stake in Anthropic Raises Hopes for Repayment 👀

FTX is in talks to sell a significant portion of its shares in the artificial intelligence startup Anthropic to several buyers, including an Abu Dhabi investment firm and Jane Street Global. This move could pave the way for the bankrupt crypto exchange to settle its debts to affected creditors.

FTX to Offload Over 29 Million Shares from Anthropic Stake

Court documents dated March 22 reveal FTX’s plan to sell about 29.5 million shares in Anthropic to 24 buyers for a total of $884,109,327.

ATIC Third Investment Company LLC, an entity owned by the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala, is set to purchase the largest chunk of shares, acquiring 16,664,167 shares for nearly $500 million.
Jane Street Global, a leading quantitative trading firm where FTX’s founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried worked as a trader, will buy 3.3 million shares worth almost $100 million.
Other buyers include Fidelity Management and Research funds, Craig Falls, and the Ford Foundation.

The sale is contingent upon approval from the bankruptcy court, with any objections required to be filed by April 1, 2024.

Boost in Funds for FTX Creditors’ Repayment 📈

In a strategic move in 2021, FTX invested $500 million in Anthropic, securing a 7.8% stake in the burgeoning AI startup. This investment surged in value in 2023 to approximately $1.4 billion following the exponential growth of Anthropic and the heightened interest in the AI industry. The clearance obtained by FTX in February 2024 to sell its stake in Anthropic, previously halted in June 2023, signaled a positive turn of events for the distressed exchange.

In addition to the proposed Anthropic shares sale, FTX boasts $6.4 billion in reserves, potentially enabling full repayment for creditors of the collapsed exchange.
While the Anthropic investment proved lucrative for FTX, the sale of its subsidiary Digital Custody is expected to incur a substantial loss, as it was acquired for $10 million but is set to be sold for a mere $500,000 post-FXT’s collapse in 2022 to CoinList, helmed by CEO Terrence Culver.

Hot Take: FTX’s Strategic Asset Disposal Moves 💰

FTX’s decision to offload a significant portion of its Anthropic stake to multiple buyers represents a crucial step toward settling its debts arising from the exchange’s collapse. With substantial funds expected from the sale, creditors can potentially be repaid in full, offering hope for a positive resolution amid the turmoil. The contrasting outcomes of the Anthropic investment and the Digital Custody sell-off underscore the complexities and risks inherent in the crypto market, shaping FTX’s future trajectory and financial stability.