crypto strategy

SBF and the Mooch marry as FTX Ventures takes 30% stake in SkyBridge Capital

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FTX Ventures, a branch of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX crypto exchange, will acquire a 30% stake in alternative asset manager SkyBridge Capital, the companies announced on September 9. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but SkyBridge will use $40 million of the proceeds from the purchase of cryptocurrencies to hold as a long-term investment, according to a statement.

SkyBridge Founder and Managing Partner Anthony Scaramucci said of the deal on Twitter: “There is a small universe of outside investors that SkyBridge would ever consider. partnership with, and @SBF_FTX is one of them. He added separately: “It will not have a significant impact on our day-to-day business and will not change our strategy. […] We will remain a diversified asset company, while investing heavily in blockchain. SkyBridge managed approximately $2.5 billion, including more than $800 million in digital assets, as of June 30, according to its website.

The two companies have collaborated on SALT (SkyBridge Alternatives) conferences and the Crypto Bahamas conference over the past year. Bankman Fried Told CNBC:

“We got to know the team over the past year. […] We were really excited about what they did […] from an investment perspective, growing the community – the digital asset community and the traditional asset community – by bringing them together.

SkyBridge started investing in Bitcoin (BTC) in 2020, and Scaramucci has since become a strong crypto supporter. The company was relatively untouched by the crypto market crash, although it announced the suspension of withdrawals from its crypto-exposed Legion Strategies fund in July.

Bankman-Fried firms have been on a flurry of acquisition activity since the start of the crypto winter. Bankman-Fried bought a 7.6% stake in online brokerage Robinhood in May. FTX US extended a $400 million revolving loan to BlockFi, and FTX offered to buy out some of the debts of bankrupt Voyager Digital in July. It has also made inroads into traditional finance.