Crypto gets top billing at SkyBridge SALT event amid market ‘winter’

We’re in the midst of a crypto “winter,” but you wouldn’t know it by attending the annual SALT conference in New York City this week, sponsored by hedge fund SkyBridge.

Driving the news: A week ago, the Anthony Scaramucci-founded firm announced it was selling a 30% stake to crypto exchange FTX – and the conference felt like an advertisement for the hedge fund’s new owner.

• FTX was everywhere: logos all over the event, an interview with CEO Sam Bankman-Fried that kicked off the conference, and his fellow executives sprinkled throughout the rest of the day’s program (four spoke on stage, according to the agenda).

The big picture: The price of bitcoin is down 70% from its all-time high last November, while laser eyes and “.eth” (a reference to ethereum) have all but disappeared from Twitter profiles. Still, SkyBridge seems to be betting the farm (or at least 30% of it) on crypto.

• “We did it because Sam is a visionary and probably the most visionary person in crypto,” Scaramucci told a group of reporters at the event. “[Crypto] is better technology than today’s technology.”
• While FTX only bought a fraction of the investment company, it has the option to buy up to 85% as part of the deal, according to Scaramucci.
• The firm immediately bought $40 million in crypto assets, although he declined to name them to avoid creating “hype.” It will also continue to invest in non-crypto assets.

Flashback: The connection between the two companies is not the beginning of their close relationship. As part of a multi-year deal, FTX bankrolled SkyBridge’s crypto-focused conference in April, which was even set in the Bahamas. That’s where FTX moved last year.

• The discussions initially focused on the two companies collaborating in some way, but eventually became an investment discussion.
• The two hammered out the deal over a vegetarian meal at the Rosewood Baha Mar resort in the Bahamas, according to Scaramucci. They settled on a 30% stake as a compromise.
• And it’s no surprise that SkyBridge was so receptive to the ultimate deal: In 2017, the firm struck a deal to sell itself to China’s HNA Group. However, following regulatory pressure, the acquisition was dropped the following year.

Bottom line: We may be in a bear market, but crypto’s true believers will not go gently into the good night.

• A refrain that came up again and again at the conference was that “crypto winter” is when some of the best companies – and investment opportunities – are built.