From Binance to Voyager, crypto firms’ exposure to FTX is coming to light

After major crypto exchange FTX filed for US bankruptcy protection on Friday, the crypto industry is bracing for further fallout.

Some of FTX’s investors have said they are writing their investment down to zero.

Other crypto firms may be exposed to FTX by having held tokens on the exchange or by owning FTX’s native token, FTT, which plunged around 94% last week.

While the extent of the contagion across crypto markets remains unclear, here are some firms who have given information about their exposure to FTX.

BINANCE

Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao sparked concerns among investors on Nov. 6 when he said in a tweet that Binance would sell its holdings of FTT.

Zhao told a Twitter spaces event on Monday that Binance had previously held $580 million worth of FTT, of which “we only sold quite a small portion, we still hold a large bag”.

BLOCKFI

Embattled cryptocurrency lender BlockFi said it had significant exposure to FTX and that withdrawals from its platform continue to be paused.

“We do have significant exposure to FTX and associated corporate entities that encompasses obligations owed to us by Alameda, assets held at FTX.com, and undrawn amounts from our credit line with FTX.US,” BlockFi said.

In July, FTX had signed a deal with the troubled crypto lender to provide it with a $400 million revolving credit facility with an option to buy it for up to $240 million.

CELSIUS NETWORK

Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network said in a tweet on Nov. 11 that it had 3.5 million Serum tokens (SRM) on FTX as well as around $13 million in loans to FTX-linked trading company Alameda Research. The loans were under-collateralized, mostly by FTT tokens, Celsius said.

COINBASE

Coinbase Global Inc said in a blog post on Nov. 8 that it had $15 million worth of deposits on FTX. It said it had no exposure to FTT, no exposure to Alameda Research, and no loans to FTX.

It said it had $5 billion in cash and cash equivalents at the end of Q3.

COINSHARES

Crypto asset manager CoinShares has $30.3 million worth of exposure to crypto exchange FTX, CoinShares said in a statement on Nov. 10.

CoinShares CEO Jean-Marie Mognetti said that the group’s financial health remains “strong”, adding that its net asset value at the end of Q3 was 240.6 million pounds ($282.51 million).

CRYPTO.COM

Singapore-based crypto exchange Crypto.com said on Nov. 14 it had moved about $1 billion to FTX over the course of a year, but most of it was recovered and exposure at the time of FTX’s collapse was less than $10 million.

CEO Kris Marszalek said the firm would prove all naysayers wrong on the platform being in trouble, and that it has a robust balance sheet and took no risks.

GALAXY DIGITAL

Crypto financial services company Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd said in its third-quarter earnings statement on Nov. 9 – the day after FTX froze withdrawals – that it had a $76.8 million worth of exposure to FTX, of which $47.5 million was “in the withdrawal process”.

In the earnings call, Novogratz said Galaxy had more than $1 billion in cash and $1.5 billion in liquidity.

GALOIS CAPITAL

Hedge fund Galois Capital had half its assets trapped on FTX, co-founder Kevin Zhou told investors in a recent letter, the Financial Times reported, estimating the amount to be around $100 million.

Galois did not respond to Reuters comment requests sent via email and its website.

GENESIS

US cryptocurrency broker Genesis Trading’s derivatives business has approximately $175 million in locked funds on FTX, the company said in a tweet on Nov. 10.

“Genesis has no material exposure to FTT or any other tokens issued by centralized exchanges,” the firm said in a tweet on Nov. 9.

KRAKEN

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken said on Nov. 10 that it held about 9,000 FTT tokens on the FTX exchange and was not affected “in any material way”.

Kraken also said on Sunday it had frozen the accounts of FTX, Alameda Research and their executives.

SILVERGATE CAPITAL CORP

Silvergate Capital Corporation said on Friday FTX represented less than 10% of $11.9 billion deposits from all digital asset customers as of Sept. 30.

The financial solutions provider to digital assets also said Silvergate has no outstanding loans or investments in FTX, and FTX is not a custodian for Silvergate’s bitcoin-collateralized Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN) leverage loans.

VOYAGER DIGITAL

FTX won crypto lender Voyager Digital’s assets in a $1.42-billion bid at an auction in September months after the lender spurned an earlier proposal and called it a “low-ball bid dressed up as a white knight rescue”.

Voyager said on Nov. 11 it had reopened the bidding process for the company and maintained a balance of approximately $3 million at FTX when the embattled crypto exchange filed for protection from creditors. – Rappler.com