FTX Acquires A 30% Stake in Scaramucci’s Skybridge Capital ⋆ ZyCrypto

FTX Ventures, a multi-stage Venture capital fund, has bought a 30% stake in Antony Scaramucci-helmed Skybridge Capital.

According to a Friday announcement, apart from the acquisition, FTX ventures also undertook to avail Skybrige of additional working capital “to fund its growth initiatives and new product launches.” Although further terms on the deal were yet to be disclosed at the time of writing, Skybridge was to use part of the proceeds to purchase $40 million of cryptocurrencies and hold on its corporate balance sheet as a long-term investment.

This is the latest collaboration deal between FTX and Skybridge since the two entities partnered to sponsor global SALT conferences in various parts of the world in January.

“After working with Anthony and his team following our SALT conference partnership, we saw there was an opportunity to work closer together in ways that could complement both our businesses,” said Sam Bankman-Fried-Founder and CEO of FTX Exchange. “We look forward to collaborating closely with SkyBridge on its crypto investment activity and working alongside them on promising non-crypto-related investments.”

Founded in 2005 by Scaramucci, Skybridge is a global multi-asset alternative investment firm focused on hedge fund solutions and opportunistic investment vehicles. The firm has been accelerating its move into cryptocurrencies in the past three years by forging strategic partnerships.

In June 2021, Sacramucci told CNBC that Skybridge held about $500 million in Bitcoin. As of March 2022, the firm held about $2 billion in assets under management. It is, however, believed that the recent crypto swoon has dramatically hampered the company’s worth. Last month The New York Times reported that investors were demanding to withdraw about half of the firm’s assets which stood at $890 million. 

Although Skybridge claims to remain profitable and debt-free despite the challenging market conditions, it now joins a list of other reputable crypto firms which have found themselves on FTX’s balance sheet in the recent past. Whereas FTX has been doubling on acquisitions aimed at either helping it acquire more users or regulatory licenses since 2020, it has mainly been taking advantage of rampant instability in the De-Fi lending sector to prop up cash-beleaguered crypto firms. BlockFi, Robinhood and crypto exchange Bithumb are some of the top crypto firms that have reportedly been FTX’s acquisitions in the past.