Crypto Venture Firm Sino Global Reveals ‘Mid-Seven Figures’ Exposure to Bankrupt FTX

Sino Global, a blockchain and digital assets-focused investment firm, today revealed losses suffered due to its exposure to the collapsed crypto exchange FTX, however, insists it continues operations “as normal.”

“Our direct exposure to FTX exchange was confined to mid-seven figures held in custody. Our investment into the equity of FTX was made prior to the launch of our fund, and we did not invest any LP capital into FTX,” Sino Global said in a statement shared on Twitter.

Based in Nassau, Bahamas, Sino Global invested in both FTX and its U.S. arm, according to the company’s website.

In January 2022, Sino teamed up with FTX to launch Liquid Value Fund I, a $200 million close-ended venture fund with the primary focus on DeFi, Web3, and “mass consumer protocols” on Solana and Ethereum.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, commonly known as SBF, was listed among indirect owners of the fund, while the exchange’s sister company Alameda Research was listed among the “direct owners,” per SEC filings.

Sino says ‘functioning as normal’

Sino Global said that in the past few days, the firm has been “solely concentrated on two things: protecting our LPs and working with our portfolio companies, many of whom have never experienced periods of such intense volatility.”

“Sino Global is functioning as normal and continues to invest in a fund. The focus of our current fund has been infrastructure and gaming,” reads the statement.

The firm went on to say that Sino Fund investments have been “balanced across ecosystems” and that it doesn’t employ “any leveraged or short-term trading strategies” that would affect investment positions.

“Like many of you, we trusted FTX to be a good actor committed to pushing the industry forward,” said the company. “We deeply regret that misplaced trust.”

SBF resigned Friday as FTX CEO as FTX CEO as the firm—having an estimated $10 billion hole in its balance sheet—filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Alameda Research, FTX.US, and roughly 130 affiliated entities also started voluntary bankruptcy proceedings.

FTX.com was valued at $32 billion after a $400 million Series C fundraising round from investors including Paradigm, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Tamasek, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, IVP, Tiger Global, and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board.