FTX’s venture arm Alameda invested over a billion in Bitcoin [BTC] mining company
- Alameda has reportedly invested over a billion dollars in Bitcoin mining company Genesis Digital
- The first registered investment was in August last year, while the last was in April 2022
The FTX and Alameda crash controversies continue to hit the spotlight in the cryptosphere. The latest disclosure provides insight into Alameda’s investments. According to a Bloomberg report, FTX’s venture arm had high hopes for Bitcoin mining when it invested as much as $1.15 billion in Genesis Digital Assets in four funding rounds.
Read Bitcoins [BTC] Price prediction 2023-2024
The venture arm made its first investment in August last year, when Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at a peak of $50,505. In this investment round, Alameda had pumped in $100 million. The rest of the investments took place this year, with $550 million invested in January. The Venture arm poured in another $250 million the very next month.
Meanwhile, the latest investment was in April, and the firm added $250 million to Genesis Digital’s balance sheet. This was in the same timeline as when Bitcoin’s price was going downhill. Notably, the amount of money invested in Genesis makes it Alameda’s largest investment.
Alameda stepped in to save FTX
Interestingly, Alameda’s Bitcoin mining investment disclosure comes hours after it was reported that the venture arm had stepped in to rescue FTX last year. The venture firm gave FTX a support of up to 1 billion dollars. This was after the exchange’s system failed to protect it from a customer’s influence on a token.
The token in the spotlight is MobileCoin, which was used as a means of payment on the Signal messaging app. According to a report by the Financial Times, a trader opened high leverage against the token as the price rose. The token at that time went from trading at a low of $6 to almost a high of $70, and back down again in a very short period of time. This cost the exchange anywhere between hundreds of millions of dollars to $1 billion.
Former FTX employee moves on to a new venture
Subsequently, FTX US’s former president – Brett Harrison – appears to have moved on to start his own business, while the fate of many other executives remains unknown. According to a report by The Information, Harrison is looking to raise funds to build a crypto trading software for big investors.
The former FTX boss wants to raise nearly $6 million at a $60 million valuation. However, this may change according to the report.
Notably, Harrison stepped down from his role at the firm almost a month before the famous collapse of FTX and Alameda. However, the former manager was to take on the role of adviser in the coming months. In a Twitter thread addressing the matter, Harrison says tired,
“I can’t wait to share more about what I’m doing next. Until then, I will be helping Sam and the team with this transition to ensure that FTX ends the year with all its signature momentum.”
