Scaramucci’s company stops investor redemptions for funds with Bitcoin, Ethereum exposure

Legion Strategies, a hedge fund affiliated with Anthony Scaramucci’s Skybridge Capital, has stopped investor redemptions, according to a Bloomberg report citing persons familiar with the decision.

The move reportedly comes after a sharp decline in equities and cryptocurrencies seen in recent months, with a source telling Bloomberg that the decision to stop redemptions was made because shares in private companies – which are traditionally more difficult to sell – now make up about 20% of the fund’s portfolio.

FTX, the crypto exchange led by Sam Bankman-Fried, is also listed among Legion Strategies’ private investments.

Through other funds managed by Skybridge, the Legion Strategies fund also gained exposure to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereumand Algorandaccording to an SEC file.

Legion Strategies had around $ 230 million in assets under management (AUM), with almost 25% of net assets held in crypto as of February 28th. Currently, the fund has only 10% digital assets, according to Bloomberg.

Decrypt has separately contacted SkyBridge for a comment and will update the story if we hear back.

Skybridge and crypto

Scaramucci, who had a brief stint at the White House as communications director back in 2017, has become an avid proponent of crypto.

Among its many crypto-initiatives, Skybridge Capital also pushed for a place Bitcoin ETFonly to see the application rejected by the SEC in January this year.

The New York-based company, which had about $ 3.5 billion in assets under management in April, with nearly half the amount attached to digital assets, also had plans to become “a leading asset manager and cryptocurrency advisor,” Scaramucci said. at the time that “cryptocurrency markets represent tremendous growth.”

“It comes with volatility, certainly, but I think over three to five years we like that path,” Scaramucci said. Bloomberg ahead of the annual SkyBridge Alternatives Conference (SALT) in April.

However, fortunes may have changed since then.

The crypto market has lost more than $ 1.2 trillion in value since the beginning of the year, according to CoinMarketCap, with major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum plunging around 50% and 60% respectively over time.

Bitcoin changed hands around $ 21,878 after press time, down 1.80% over the last 24 hours.

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