Bloomberg reported Aug. 25 that crypto exchange FTX would absorb the VC operations of its sister company, Alameda Research. Both are owned by billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, who allegedly wanted to consolidate his empire while cryptocurrencies work on rebounding.
Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison outlined the changes in an interview with Bloomberg. And Amy Wu, head of FTX's $2 billion startup VC arm, FTX Ventures, told the news outlet that the transition began in January. No money changed hands between FTX and Alameda, Bloomberg reported. But venture investments are completely concentrated under FTX Ventures. The exchange, venture arm and Alameda are all independent from each other and, "all three are operating completely as separate entities," Wu told Bloomberg.
Contradicting statements quickly emerged, with Bankman-Fried and Wu both denying the reports. Bankman-Fried tweeted, "this seems like a big misrepresentation to me! FTX has been doing more venture recently, and I guess maybe Alameda has been doing less? That's a really different thing than what the headline implies!"
And Wu told CoinDesk via Telegram that, "the two entities, Alameda and FTX Ventures, did not merge. Sam decided to launch FTX Ventures as a new fund and investment strategy [at the] beginning of the year because we felt there was a great opportunity to support entrepreneurs in the space our own way."
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