FTX wants to unload $1.4B Anthropic stake

A hearing on the motion to sell the stake is set for Feb. 22

February 5, 2024 09:34 am

FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried | Getty Images modified by Blockworks

The FTX debtors are seeking to sell off its stake in Anthropic.

The artificial intelligence company is a rival to the likes of OpenAI. Former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried made a $500 million investment in the company through Alameda and FTX, putting the estate’s stake around 8%.

Anthropic sought to raise $750 million last December, putting its valuation at around $18 billion. By those numbers, the investment would be worth around $1.4 billion.

“Given the significant number and value of Anthropic Shares held by the Debtors, the flexibility to sell all or portions of Anthropic Shares at different times, and by different means, will help the Debtors monetize their interest,” a court document from Friday said.

Newsletter

Subscribe to The Breakdown

The motion will be heard on Feb. 22 at a hearing.

If approved, then the debtors will start selling shares of Anthropic at “optimal and appropriate” times following Anthropic’s “capital raising efforts.”

This would benefit “all stakeholders.” If the motion is approved, debtors will also create sale procedures for the stake.

Last week, lawyers representing FTX told a bankruptcy court that the estate scrapped plans to reboot the exchange after it failed to find a buyer who could take on the relaunch.

A lawyer for the estate, Andrew Dierderich, said “no investor is ready to commit the needed capital to a restart of the offshore exchange. Nor has a buyer emerged for that exchange.” Last year, roughly 75 bidders were contacted.

However, he added that FTX still has “valuable customer data and information to monetize.”

Back in September, Amazon said it planned to invest up to $4 billion in the AI company, which would give the tech behemoth a minority stake in Anthropic.

Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

The Breakdown: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.
0xResearch: Alpha in your inbox. Think like an analyst.

Tags

Newsletter

The Breakdown

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Digital Asset Summit 2026

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 24 - 26, 2026

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

buy tickets learn more

recent research

Research

Kinetiq Protocol: From LST Infrastructure to HIP-3 Deployer

Kinetiq has established itself as Hyperliquid's dominant liquid staking protocol, holding 82.5% of LST market share with $610M in TVL. The protocol is now expanding beyond its kHYPE staking core into higher take-rate verticals: iHYPE for institutional custody rails, Launch for HIP-3 capital formation, and Markets for builder-deployed perpetuals. We view Markets, launching Jan. 12, as the highest-potential product line given its mechanically scalable, activity-linked unit economics. Near-term revenue remains anchored by kHYPE's KIP-2 fee schedule (~$1.6M annualized), while Markets provides embedded optionality if HIP-3 economics normalize post-Growth Mode. KNTQ's setup is relatively clean: zero insider unlocks until November 2026, 6.2% buyback yield from staking revenue, and cleared airdrop overhang. Risks center on unproven Markets execution, declining kHYPE TVL despite ongoing incentives, and competition from Hyperliquid's native initiatives.

by Shaunda Devens