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Failed crypto exchange FTX has unexpectedly halted the sale of its stake in the artificial intelligence (AI) startup Anthropic. The stock has been viewed as a source of funds that can be used to compensate customers who suffered losses as a result of the coin trading platform’s collapse.
Cryptocurrency Exchange FTX Postpones Sale of Anthropic Shares
Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has decided to hold off the sale of its stake in the AI company Anthropic. The stock, worth $500 million, has been among the exchange’s most sought-after assets, Bloomberg noted in a report.
According to sources who chose to remain anonymous, bidders have been informed this month about the pause by Perella Weinberg Partners, the financial services firm acting as an advisor in FTX’s bankruptcy which was looking to sell the Anthropic shares.
The Rise of Anthropic
The AI startup was established in 2021 by former employees of Openai, the developer of the chatbot Chatgpt. In May of this year, Anthropic announced it had raised $450 million to support the development of its AI bot named ‘Claude.’
Anthropic has been recently valued at $4.6 billion and secondary market buyers have been seeking to acquire shares of the company. FTX’s stake in the AI firm is one of the biggest investments made by what was one the largest digital asset exchanges.
FTX Bankruptcy and Allegations
FTX filed for bankruptcy protection amid liquidity issues in November 2022. The sale of the Anthropic stake was halted a day after FTX’s new CEO, John J Ray III, accused the former management of the crypto company of misappropriating assets, Forbes remarked in an article.
Some of the political donations and venture capital investments made by FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), its founder and former chief executive, have been partially funded by commingled customer deposits, according to a report published by the exchange’s new management this week.
FTX and SBF’s crypto trading firm Alameda Research made the $500 million investment in Anthropic, according to the internal documents seen by Bloomberg. At this point, it remains unclear how long the sale of the stake in the AI startup will be delayed.
