Alameda invested $1.15 billion into crypto miner Genesis: Bloomberg

Alameda Research, the trading firm closely related to embattled exchange FTX, invested $1.15 billion into crypto miner Genesis Digital Assets. 

This was Alameda’s and FTX’s biggest venture investment and valued the company at $5.5 billion in an April funding round, according to documents obtained by Bloomberg that listed FTX and Alameda’s venture portfolio.

Alameda made four separate capital injections into the crypto miner. Last August, it invested about $100 million in the miner. It invested $550 million in January, followed by $250 million in February and $250 million in April. 

The crypto miner has no relation to Genesis Trading, whose lending unit suspended redemptions in the wake of FTX’s collapse. 

Marco Streng founded Genesis Digital Assets in April 2021. Streng previously founded its predecessor company, Genesis Mining, which opened its first facility in Iceland in 2014. 

The news comes as crypto miners continue to feel the heat amid the current downturn, which has seen the price of bitcoin plunge and energy costs rise. On Nov. 22, bitcoin miner Core Scientific warned of “substantial doubt” in its ability to continue operations after posting a $435 million loss. In November, mining revenues fell almost 20%, according to data from The Block Research. 

The industry is now facing the further challenge of BlockFi’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. The crypto lender was the second-biggest in the space. 

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