Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has received approval from Judge John Dorsey of the Delaware Bankruptcy Court to sell more than £1 billion worth of its shares in the artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.
The ruling, delivered during a hearing on February 22, allows the sale to proceed following FTX’s accommodation of some customers who had objected to the sale.
These customers contended that the Anthropic shares did not belong to FTX, alleging they were acquired with misappropriated customer funds, referencing evidence presented during the criminal trial of FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
However, they agreed to the sale on the condition that they would later be able to claim proceeds from it for FTX users.
Andrew Dietderich, representing FTX from Sullivan & Cromwell, informed the court that they are selling the Anthropic shares “as we are selling everything and putting the money in the bank.”
He further stated that FTX intends to reimburse users using the proceeds from selling its Anthropic stake, augmenting the existing £6.4 billion it holds in reserve — a sum more than sufficient to repay those who can substantiate their entitlement to a portion of the proceeds.
Earlier this month, FTX filed a motion to sell its 7.84% stake in Anthropic.
The exchange initially invested approximately £530 million in the AI startup in April 2022, prior to its collapse and subsequent filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November of the same year.
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Following Anthropic’s subsequent funding rounds, FTX’s stake was diluted from over 13.5%.
According to The Information’s report on February 16, the latest funding round valued Anthropic at £15 billion, elevating the worth of FTX’s stake to over £1.1 billion.
Dietderich informed the court last month that FTX anticipates it could fully reimburse creditors and has abandoned plans to revive the exchange.
However, creditor repayments will be calculated based on cryptocurrency prices at the time of FTX’s bankruptcy over 15 months ago, when Bitcoin was trading at around £16,800 — it currently stands at over £51,000, reflecting a more than 200% increase.
Meanwhile, Bankman-Fried is scheduled to be sentenced on March 28 following his conviction for embezzling over £8 billion in customer funds.
The former FTX chief maintains his innocence and has expressed his intention to appeal the verdict.
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