Galaxy Digital, a cryptocurrency group led by U.S. billionaire Mike Novogratz, is actively seeking to acquire more assets from bankrupt digital asset companies.
This strategy follows their successful deal involving the sale of coins held by the failed crypto exchange FTX FTT/USD, which significantly increased their funds under management.
In August, Galaxy was appointed by FTX’s administrators to manage the sale, hedging, and staking of FTX’s Bitcoin BTC/USD and Ether ETH/USD holdings, as well as its investments in Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust GBTC.
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This move has reportedly boosted Galaxy’s assets under management from $1.7 billion a year ago to $5.3 billion.
Galaxy has seen a welcome surge in assets amidst struggles to rebound from last year’s cryptocurrency market crash, which resulted in a $94 million loss in the third quarter of this year.
The company’s asset management division has been gradually offloading FTX’s tokens to the open market under a US court mandate, aiming to recoup value for the exchange’s administrators and repay creditors.
The court ordered that FTX assets could be sold in $100 million weekly increments, with instructions to avoid market disruptions or alerting other traders.
Steve Kurz, Galaxy’s global head of asset management, expressed interest in acquiring assets from other bankrupt firms.
He highlighted Galaxy’s potential in acquiring FTX’s extensive venture capital portfolio, which includes investments in real estate, technology companies, and a significant stake in the AI start-up Anthropic, valued at nearly $5 billion.
Kurz referenced Galaxy’s crypto venture team, which has been investing for five years in entities like Fireblocks and Polygon MATIC/USD, as a strong candidate for managing FTX’s venture portfolio.
Andrew Bond, a senior research analyst at Rosenblatt Securities, noted that Galaxy’s acquisition of the FTX mandate opened opportunities for more profitable mandates.
Galaxy, planning to shift its stock market listing from Toronto to Nasdaq, operates around a dozen funds across various investment strategies. Recently, it partnered with Flow Traders and DWS to launch a euro-denominated stablecoin, marking its entry into the creation of its token.
The company is also competing to launch a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund in collaboration with Invesco and Cboe Global Markets.
This move comes amid a surge in bitcoin prices, driven by expectations of new bitcoin ETFs attracting Wall Street interest.
Kurz commented on the critical phase for crypto in the U.S., citing BlackRock‘s BLK ETF filing as a turning point.
He mentioned ongoing discussions with the SEC and emphasized the significant impact that bitcoin ETFs would have on the cryptocurrency market.
Kurz, with previous experience at Fortress Investment Group and Lehman Brothers, believes that the approval of a Bitcoin ETF would be a pivotal moment for the crypto industry.
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