The CEO of crypto exchange FTX told Reuters that the company has $2 billion in the tank to invest in projects deemed attractive.
Summary
FTX and the $2 billion to invest in the crypto world
During an interview with Reuters, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said his company would have over $2 billion to use for deals in the cryptocurrency sector.
JUST IN: FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried says the exchange has over $2 billion they could use in #crypto industry deals, if needed.
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) July 6, 2022
Bankman-Fried himself reportedly stated in the same interview that he believed the crypto market’s severe liquidity crisis would now be in its final stage.
💥FTX CEO: worst of crypto liquidity crunch is over. 🧐
— Bitcoin Archive (@BTC_Archive) July 6, 2022
Indeed, in the last period, FTX has been helping several companies that have been facing a serious liquidity crisis, most notably Celsius, which at first looked like it might be acquired by the exchange itself, but the deal then fell through at the last moment, following a careful analysis of Celsius’s accounts that suggested it would not be advisable to continue with the deal.
Bankman-Fried stated:
“We’re starting to get a few more companies reaching out to us. Those firms are generally not in dire situations, though some smaller crypto exchanges may still fail, he said, adding that the industry has moved beyond “other big shoes that have to drop”.
FTX’s lending to other platforms
Another company also owned by FTX’s CEO, Alameda Research, which engages in quantitative cryptocurrency trading, granted Voyager Digital a $200 million revolving line of credit in cash and stablecoins. This loan was necessitated by the non-payment of a loan by the 3AC fund, for which Voyager declared the fund insolvent. Because of this, last week a court in the Virgin Islands declared the hedge fund bankrupt.
A few weeks ago, FTX opened BlockFi a $250 million revolving line of credit, also unveiling an agreement granting FTX the right to purchase it based on certain performance factors.
These statements and attitude of the 30-year-old head of FTX seem to go in the opposite direction to what he himself stated at the end of the month, namely that in his opinion many crypto exchanges would in fact be insolvent.
The CEO of FTX, according to the Forbes ranking, would be one of the richest men in the world at just 30 years old, having an estimated wealth of about $24 billion, which would have been nearly halved by the consistent declines in the crypto market in recent months.
