Amidst the crypto market’s bearish trend, FTX has been one of the industry’s shining stars. The crypto exchange has been a paragon of organisational excellence, and the CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, has been at the centre of it all.
This week, the crypto boss gave his diagnosis of the market while assuring participants that his company remains committed to industry-wide stability.
The Worst Is Probably Over
Earlier this week, Bankman-Fried discussed, with Reuters, his view of the cryptocurrency market and his mission to restore stability to a flailing industry. The crypto CEO explained that while he believes things are starting to return to order, his companies remain ready to extend lifelines to other failing enterprises.
Speaking on his view of the market, Sam Bankman-Fried explained that he truly believes the worst is over for now. The CEO pointed out that improving market conditions as well as the presence of more resolute investors means that a lot of companies can avoid liquidity crises, such as the ones we’ve seen in the past week or two.
The comments are especially interesting, considering that one of the companies that Bankman-Fried tried to bail out recently filed for Chapter 1- bankruptcy protection.
When the market faced its worst period last month, one of the first companies to get hit was Voyager – a crypto-financial services platform providing brokerage services to several users. Voyager had paused services last month, citing the market conditions and its exposure to Three Arrows Capital – a crypto hedge fund that has since gone bust.
Seeing an opportunity to capitalise, Alameda Research – a quantitative trading shop founded and run by Bankman-Fried – gave Voyager a $500 million line of credit in hopes of helping the company stem the tide.
Sadly, none of this helped. Voyager filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, effectively truncating the company’s promising future.
More Deals to Be Snagged
Despite the failure of Voyager, Sam Bankman-Fried remains committed to his mission to help distressed companies. Besides the bankrupt brokerage firm, the CEO has also stepped in to help BlockFi – one of the market’s most prominent crypto lending sites.
Like Voyager, BlockFi was one of the first companies to be affected by the current market route. BlockFi laid off 20% of its workforce in May, then announced in June that it had gotten a $250 million bailout from FTX.
Today @BlockFi signed a term sheet with @FTX_Official to secure a $250M revolving credit facility providing us with access to capital that further bolsters our balance sheet and platform strength.
— Zac Prince (@BlockFiZac) June 21, 2022
Less than two weeks later, BlockFi confirmed that it had agreed on terms of a financing deal with FTX. According to the terms of the deal, FTX would up its loan to $400 million, with an option to buy the company outright for $240 million based on performance down the line.
Yesterday we signed definitive agreements, subject to shareholder approval, with FTX US for:
1. A $400M revolving credit facility which is subordinate to all client funds, and
2. An option to acquire BlockFi at a variable price of up to $240M based on performance triggers.— Zac Prince (@BlockFiZac) July 1, 2022
The deal was a sweet one for FTX. Even with the $250 million price tag, the exchange would be acquiring BlockFi at a massive discount. BlockFi had raised $350 million at a $3 billion valuation last March.
Deals like these contribute to Sam Bankman-Fried’s position as the crypto bailout king. As he explained to Reuters, several other companies have approached him for similar help.
The billionaire crypto CEO reinforced that his exchange still has “a few billion” to help distressed companies in the future if things get worse. Interestingly, Bankman-Fried forecasted just a week ago that more company insolvencies could be coming before this current bearish cycle passes.
Asked whether most of this bailout money has been coming from FTX’s venture fund (which the company launched in February, with $2 billion in capital), Sam Bankman-Fried explained that it has been a mixture of FTX funds and his personal wealth.
As he explained, FTX has a responsibility to make reasonable investments that drive shareholder value. However, he also doesn’t mind stepping in with his personal haul to ensure the type of stability he envisages for the market.
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