FTX Sale of SBF's Stakes Turned Into a Multibillion-Dollar Miss

The FTX estate sold early stakes in Cursor, Anthropic, and Robinhood far too soon, leaving billions in potential value on the table.

Key Takeaways

• The FTX bankruptcy estate sold early equity stakes in Cursor, Anthropic, and Robinhood for a fraction of what they were later worth.
• Alameda Research invested $200,000 in Anysphere in 2022, and that 5% stake would now be worth about $3 billion.
• The estate also sold 7.6% of Robinhood and 30 million Solana tokens under pressure to repay creditors quickly.

The forced sale of investments by the FTX bankruptcy estate has led to huge missed opportunities. Early equity stakes in companies like Cursor, Anthropic, and Robinhood were sold for a fraction of their current value, highlighting how important timing is in venture capital.

Early Investments and a Fast Exit

Sam Bankman-Fried’s investment vehicle Alameda Research put $200,000 (€172,500) into Anysphere in 2022, the company behind the AI tool Cursor, which gave it about 5% of the company. That stake was sold at cost the following year, even though SpaceX recently acquired Cursor for $60 billion (€51.8 billion). That same 5% would now be worth about $3 billion (€2.6 billion), a 15,000x return.

A similar story applies to Anthropic, an AI lab in which FTX invested about $500 million (€431 million) in 2021, giving it nearly 8% of the company. The estate sold that stake in 2024 for around $1.3 billion (€1.1 billion), while Anthropic now has a valuation of $380 billion. Those same shares are now worth more than $30 billion (€25.9 billion).

Other Major Exits

The estate's sale of a 7.6% stake in Robinhood also brought in less than the current market value. The shares were sold back in 2023 for about $606 million (€523 million), while they are now worth more than $5 billion (€4.3 billion). In addition, the estate sold about 30 million Solana (SOL) tokens in 2024 for around $64 (€55) each. Although SOL later peaked at around $293 (€253), the current price is around $74 (€64), so that sale looks less painful in hindsight.

These forced sales came from the need to quickly repay creditors after FTX filed for bankruptcy in 2022. Alameda Research, co-founded by Bankman-Fried, was a major player in the crypto market and an early investor in assets including Solana. The quick liquidation of these positions stands in sharp contrast to the patience usually needed for investments in innovative technology.

Why This Matters for European Crypto Investors

These developments show how liquidity pressure and legal issues can shape investment strategies, even in crypto. European investors can take away that timing and patience are crucial when investing in emerging technologies like AI and blockchain. It also highlights the importance of understanding the risks tied to investments in companies that may face legal and financial uncertainty.