FTX Ventures to Acquire 30% Stake in SkyBridge Capital

FTX Ventures, a $2 billion venture capital firm based in Nassau, Bahamas, is planning on buying a 30% stake in SkyBridge, a global hedge fund and alternative asset manager.

SkyBridge Capital, which was founded in 2005 by Anthony Scaramucci, a former aide of ex-President Donald Trump, announced the planned investment on Friday in a statement.

However, the hedge fund did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

FTX Ventures in the statement said it will provide additional working capital to SkyBridge Capital on top of the acquisition.

And, SkyBridge Capital said it will use a portion of the amount received to buy $40 million in cryptocurrencies to hold as a long-term investment.

“The deal is the latest collaboration between SkyBridge and FTX, following the multi-year partnership to sponsor global SALT conferences in North America, Asia and the Middle East, and co-present Crypto Bahamas, the leading institutional digital assets conference that launched in April 2022,” SkyBridge Capital explained.

“The firms will expand their collaboration on venture and digital asset investing across current and future product offering,” the hedge fund firm added.

FTX and Crypto Investments

Commenting on the partnership, Scaramucci, the Founder and Managing Partner of SkyBridge, noted that his company “will remain a diversified asset management firm." He added that the company will invest heavily in blockchain.

Also speaking, Sam Bankman-Fried, the billionaire leader of FTX Ventures, noted that the venture capital firm was looking forward to working closely with SkyBridge Capital on its crypto investment activities.

Moreover, FTX Ventures plans to work with SkyBridge “on promising non-crypto-related investments,” Bankman-Fried added.

In early 2022, FTX Ventures invested $100 million in Dave, a fast-growing banking app, to accelerate the expansion of the global cryptocurrency ecosystem.

In the aftermath of the recent crash in price in the cryptocurrency markets, cryptocurrency exchange FTX extended helping hands to crypto lenders BlockFi and Voyager Digital as well as bankrupt lender Celsius.

Additionally, in May, Bankman-Fried acquired a 7.6% stake in Robinhood, a US commission-free stock trading and investing app.

A regulatory filing showed that the billionaire founder purchased Robinhood shares worth a total of $648 million at an average price of $11.52.