Bankrupt FTX has missed out on almost half a billion {dollars} in potential revenue after liquidating its early stake in Anysphere, the corporate behind the fast-rising AI code editor Cursor.
The now-defunct crypto trade, via its buying and selling arm Alameda Analysis, had invested $200,000 in Anysphere throughout its 2022 seed spherical.
Nevertheless, chapter managers offered the stake for a similar quantity in 2023, lengthy earlier than the corporate’s worth surged.
On April 5, Anysphere accomplished a funding spherical that pushed its valuation to $9 billion. The spherical introduced in $900 million and included main traders like Thrive Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Accel.
In January this 12 months, the corporate raised $150 million at a $2.5 billion valuation. Since then, Cursor’s consumer base and income have grown quickly, with the agency reportedly pulling in round $200 million in April alone.
Primarily based on Anysphere’s present valuation, Alameda’s unique $200,000 funding would now be value near $500 million.
That unrealized acquire might have been used to compensate FTX collectors, lots of whom are nonetheless ready to recuperate their misplaced property.
FTX’s undervalued gross sales
In the meantime, this isn’t the one occasion of undervalued gross sales throughout FTX’s asset liquidation course of.
For context, the bankrupt trade administration had parted with token contracts linked to the SUI blockchain, which might have yielded almost $3 billion in returns.
As a substitute of holding the contracts, FTX offered them in March 2024 for simply $1 million, effectively beneath their present worth of round $3 billion. The failed trade additionally offered $95 million of Mysten Labs shares alongside its SUI contracts.
Regardless of these missteps, FTX’s property has seen higher outcomes elsewhere. One instance is the $1.4 billion sale of its $500 million stake in AI agency Anthropic Holdings, which introduced in vital liquidity.
The proceeds from these asset gross sales are getting used to reimburse collectors. The failed agency accomplished the primary spherical of repayments in February. The second spherical, concentrating on clients with claims over $50,000, is anticipated to start later this month.
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