A U.S. judge ruled Thursday that bankrupt crypto exchange FTX might sell its shares in the artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.
US Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey in Wilmington, Delaware, gave the nod to FTX’s plan to sell the shares following a court agreement with a group of FTX customers who opposed the sale.
Court documents reveal that FTX injected $500 million into Anthropic in 2021, holding a 7.84% stake in the company. Seeking approval to sell these shares, FTX aims to liquidate assets and reimburse customers who lost account access during the 2022 collapse.
“We are selling the Anthropic shares, as we are selling everything, and putting the money in the bank,” FTX attorney Andy Dietderich said at a Thursday court hearing.
FTX expects to sell the shares at a profit, and it will retain the flexibility to sell its shares at the “most optimal and appropriate time,” according to court documents.
“Given the increased interest in AI and large language models, there has been significant appreciation in the value of the Anthropic Shares since the Debtors’ acquisition and investment in Anthropic in 2021,” FTX wrote in a February 3 court filing.
FTX’s 2021 investment granted it a 13.56% equity stake in Anthropic. However, the subsequent fundraising rounds, including a $4 billion investment from Amazon.com, diluted FTX’s stake.
Opposing customers contended that FTX didn’t genuinely own the Anthropic shares, alleging they were bought with embezzled funds from FTX customers’ deposits. Despite this, they agreed on Thursday to permit the sale, reserving the right to argue later that FTX customers are entitled to any proceeds from the future sale.
Dietderich mentioned that FTX plans to use the sale proceeds to repay customers and has sufficient cash to reimburse any specific group that can prove ownership of the Anthropic shares. Currently, FTX holds $6.4 billion in cash.
FTX aims to repay all customers in full, determining the repayment based on cryptocurrency prices from November 2022, when FTX declared bankruptcy during a crypto market downturn, rather than the current, higher crypto asset values.
On November 2, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty of embezzling billions from customers, marking one of the most significant financial fraud cases. His sentencing is scheduled for March 28, and an appeal is expected.
