The successful closing of Anthropic’s new funding round of at least $2 billion will increase the AI startup’s valuation to $20-30 billion and create the preconditions for a 100% refund to FTX customers. This was reported by the FTX 2.0 coalition.
Anthropic to raise from Google at 20-30B valuation, putting FTX’s stake at 3-4.5B.
FTX customers now stand to be made whole. pic.twitter.com/Vy9mZc8bEl
— FTX 2.0 Coalition (@AFTXcreditor) October 3, 2023
According to estimates from a group of FTX creditors, the platform’s stake in the startup could be valued at $3-4.5 billion.
In April 2022, Anthropic closed a $580 million Series B funding round led by the crypto exchange.
Speaking to The Block, lawyer Kunchou Cai of Enlighten, who has helped more than 100 clients file complaints against the platform, confirmed the possibility of such a scenario. He believes there should be a lock-up period for investors in Anthropic.
“It remains uncertain when management will sell its stake in the startup. Perhaps this option will only appear if IPO, Unless Otherwise Posted. If [сооснователь криптобиржи Сэм] Bankman-Fried invested in Anthropic personally and not through FTX, then those who sued him separately can claim priority in payments.” – the specialist explained.
Thomas Braziel, a partner at 117 Partners and 507 Capital, which specializes in buying claims against failing firms, called it “great” news.
“If the liabilities are $10 billion, […] and FTX’s investments can be estimated at $3 billion, then that’s 30 cents. […] It’s absolutely huge. But on paper. People need to remember this.” – the expert explained.
The prospect of increased refunds for FTX clients has led some of them to sell their claims to hedge funds that specialize in such trades, Tsai said.
Anthropic was founded by former OpenAI employees Daniela Amodei and Dario Amodei in 2021. They were among those who left the company due to internal disagreements, including issues of cooperation with Microsoft.
In February 2023, the media learned about Google investing $300 million in the startup. In May, Anthropic raised $450 million. In September, Amazon announced a strategic investment in the startup of up to $4 billion.
In a March presentation, exchange representatives estimated the total deficit of funds to cover creditors’ claims at $8.7 billion, of which about $1.6 billion is in Bitcoin. In June 2023, the platform’s current management team announced the return of approximately $7 billion in liquid assets.
In May, FTX filed a lawsuit against Genesis demanding the return of $3.9 billion. Subsequently, the volume of claims was reduced to $2 billion. As a result, the companies agreed to pay $175 million in favor of Alameda Research.
In July, lawyers demanded the return of $71 million from charitable units associated with the exchange.
Let us recall that in September the court approved the repurchase by online broker Robinhood of its 55 million shares worth $605.7 million, which previously belonged to the platform founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
That same month, FTX filed a lawsuit against LayerZero demanding the return of $86 million. The platform later demanded the return of $157.3 million from employees of its Hong Kong branch.
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