Yuga Labs, Circle, SkyBridge Among Investments FTX Ventures Made Prior to Liquidity Issues

FTX Ventures invested in some of the biggest names in crypto. Meanwhile, TradFi giants such as Tiger Global participated in FTX's funding rounds.

AccessTimeIconNov 8, 2022 at 11:12 p.m. UTC
Updated May 9, 2023 at 4:01 a.m. UTC
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11 biggest funding rounds with FTX Ventures (CoinDesk Research and CryptoRank.io)
11 biggest funding rounds with FTX Ventures (CoinDesk Research and CryptoRank.io)

The venture capital arm of cryptocurrency exchange FTX has been a prominent investor in some of the biggest names in the crypto ecosystem. With Binance's possible acquisition of its rival FTX, questions swirl around what will happen to these investments.

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  • Among the biggest names in which FTX Ventures invested were Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs, USDC stablecoin issuer Circle, layer 1 blockchains Near Protocol and Sui, crypto lender BlockFi and two different funding rounds for the Aptos blockchain, according to crypto data analytics firm Cryptorank. The exact number of investments by FTX Ventures are unknown.

    FTX has been linked closely with the embattled BlockFi. The U.S. arm of FTX gave the strained lender a $400 million credit line with FTX getting the option to acquire BlockFi for up to $240 million.

    SkyBridge stake

    In September, FTX Ventures agreed to buy 30% of SkyBridge Capital for an undisclosed amount after the investment firm was dinged by the bear market. SkyBridge – founded by Anthony Scaramucci, a one-time aide to former U.S. President Donald Trump – planned to use some of the infusion to buy $40 million in cryptocurrencies to put on its balance sheet as a long-term investment.

    Tiger Global, SoftBank headaches

    The FTX turmoil could also cause more headaches for investors in the cryptocurrency exchange, particularly the already weakened Tiger Global Management and SoftBank Vision Fund.

    Chase Coleman’s Tiger Global hedge fund participated in a $420 million round for FTX in October 2021 at a $25 billion valuation and returned for a January funding round at a $32 billion valuation. Amid those investments, Tiger Global entered the year with too much exposure to both equities and China and worked to rebalance its portfolio. The fund still lost 5.4% last month despite in increase in global equity markets, according to Bloomberg.

    SoftBank Vision Fund was another returning investor for FTX’s January 2022 funding round. The Japanese conglomerate is one of the world’s largest backers of technology companies through its investment arm, which includes two Vision Fund vehicles and a Latin America fund. However, the investing arm reported $50 billion in losses during the first six months of this year, largely attributed to bear market losses for publicly-traded investments such as Uber and Opendoor.


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    CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

    Brandy Betz

    Brandy covered crypto-related venture capital deals for CoinDesk.

    Sage D. Young

    Sage D. Young was a tech protocol reporter at CoinDesk. He owns a few NFTs, gold and silver, as well as BTC, ETH, LINK, AAVE, ARB, PEOPLE, DOGE, OS, and HTR.


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