Amy Wu resigns from FTX Ventures as SBF’s crypto empire unravels
by Arthur · November 11, 2022
As the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange continues to send shockwaves across the industry, Amy Wu, a former partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, told The information on Friday that she has resigned from her position at FTX Ventures.
Wu’s resignation comes the same day FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and founder Sam Bankman-Fried stepped down as CEO amid allegations of fraud and mismanagement of client funds.
Wu joined FTX in January to lead its venture capital arm, which Bankman-Fried launched the same month with a $2 billion investment. Since then, FTX Ventures has been part of several multi-million dollar deals.
“When I look at which company can potentially have the biggest impact in the industry, but also in the world,” Wu said Decrypt at the time. “I think FTX is one of the most impactful I’ve had the pleasure of working with.”
In March 2022, FTX Ventures invested $100 million in Dave, a financial services app, as part of a deal with crypto exchange FTX US that would enable the platform to begin offering cryptocurrency services.
FTX Ventures has also invested in Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs and game developer Faraway, creators of the Solana-based Mini Royale: Nations.
In September, FTX Ventures invested in SkyBridge Capital, the investment firm led by Anthony Scaramucci, taking a 30% stake in the firm. In the same month, FTX Ventures participated in a $54 million fundraising led by Alexis Ohanian’s VC firm Seven Seven Six for the popular NFT project Doodles.
Wu has long been a champion of Web3 games and NFTs. At Messari Mainnet 2021, she discussed how NFTs and games could work together.
“If you have in-game items that are traded as NFT goods, either within the closed ecosystem of that game publisher or outside of that, you can really deepen the game economy significantly,” she said Decrypt. “You have much higher liquidity volume and it’s actually a good way for a player to spend as much money as they want in a game, which was previously limited.”
Wu’s resignation today signals the end of a short but active run for FTX Ventures. In light of recent allegations of fraud and mismanagement at FTX, Wu’s earlier statements about the need to call out bad actors in the space seem all the more relevant.
“There is this constant narrative and paranoia that Web3 will be centralized, just like the earlier rise of industries and the Internet, etc.,” Wu said on Decrypt gm podcast in February. “I think it’s good for people to remain paranoid about it, and call out bad actors.”
