In a recent development reported by Bloomberg on April 5, the FTX estate has notably sold a significant portion of its Solana (SOL) tokens, specifically over half, at a substantial 63% discount from their current market value.
This sale is pivotal as SOL tokens are considered the main assets of the now-defunct exchange.
The transaction attracted attention from several prominent players in the financial world, including asset managers and venture capitalists like Galaxy Trading and Pantera Capital, as shared by sources familiar with the situation.
FTX, which previously backed Solana as an early investor, disposed of 25 to 30 million SOL tokens that were locked and could not be traded until a set deadline, due to a four-year vesting schedule.
These tokens were sold at $64 each, culminating in approximately $1.9 billion for the creditors of FTX.
This sale occurred despite SOL’s trading price soaring to $176, as per CoinMarketCap, marking a notable 743% increase over a year, propelled by the broader crypto market’s recovery and a spike in memecoin popularity.
Galaxy Trading, under Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital umbrella, successfully gathered about $620 million to acquire SOL tokens from FTX’s estate.
This investment entailed a 1% management fee and aimed at earning returns through staking, according to insider accounts. Galaxy Asset Management facilitated the asset exchange and sale process.
Additionally, Pantera Capital managed to raise $250 million for purchasing SOL tokens, and Neptune Digital Assets, a Canadian blockchain firm, bought 26,964 SOL tokens at $64 each on March 27.
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The decision to sell FTX assets at such a marked-down rate has led to criticism from the exchange’s creditors.
In a related event on March 28, Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud charges linked to the exchange’s collapse in November 2022.
Creditors during the sentencing voiced concerns over the liquidation practices of the exchange’s assets by its liquidators, accusing them of infringing upon the “property rights.”
Among the vocal critics was FTX creditor Sunil Kavuri, who highlighted the discrepancy in the sale price of assets, including a significant reduction in the value of Solana tokens.
Furthermore, a class action has been initiated against Sullivan & Cromwell, accusing the law firm of complicity in the fraud before it represented FTX in bankruptcy proceedings.
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