Ikigai’s Travis Kling says hedge had ‘large majority’ of assets on FTX

Ikigai Asset Management, a Puerto Rico-based crypto asset management startup, held a “large majority” of its assets on FTX and was not able to withdraw much of those assets after the exchange filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday. 

“We’re now stuck alongside everyone else,” Chief Investment Officer Travis Kling wrote in a thread on Twitter. “It was entirely my fault and not anyone else’s. I lost my investors’ money after they put faith in me to manage risk and I am truly sorry for that.”

Kling said that the firm will continue trading its remaining assets and that it will make a decision about what to do with its venture fund, which was not affected by the FTX collapse. He said the timeline for potential recovery for FTX customers will become clearer over the coming weeks and months.

Ikigai said in May it had raised $30 million for a web3-focused venture fund. 

“If crypto is to recover and continue on its journey to make the world a better place, I believe the entire concept of trust has to be completely rearchitected,” Kling said, referencing “sociopaths” in the industry he said had been able to do so much damage that it was hard for him to image the space bouncing back quickly.

“I have publicly endorsed FTX many times and I am truly sorry for that. I was wrong,” he said.

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