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Crypto Biz: SBF’s newest Excel spreadsheet reveals all

January 20, 2023No Comments


Large companies spend tons of money to keep track of their financial transactions – think accountants, financial analysts, consultants, and enterprise-grade accounting software. Meanwhile, Sam Bankman-Fried used Microsoft Excel.

On January 17, in another sloppy Excel spreadsheet, SBF revealed that FTX US was creditworthy. The Excel file allegedly showed customer balances, bank deposits, and assets in cold storage. “S&C forgot to include bank balances” of about $428 million, SBF said, referring to former FTX legal counsel Sullivan and Cromwell. “Once you add them back, you get closer to my previous balance” of around $350 million, she said.

This week's Crypto Biz explores the "Herculean research effort" to identify billions in liquid FTX assets. We also bring you the latest on the ongoing Digital Currency Group saga.

FTX: It took a 'Herculean investigative effort' to identify $5.5 billion in liquid assets

SBF was not the only one seeking to unearth FTX's remaining balances. Bankrupt stock market debtors have identified $5.5 billion in liquid assets, including $1.7 billion in cash, $3.5 billion in crypto assets, and around $300 million in securities. “We are making significant progress in our efforts to maximize recoveries, and it has taken our team a Herculean investigative effort to uncover this preliminary information,” said FTX CEO John Ray. Before you get too excited, he knows that there is still a "substantial digital asset shortfall," according to FTX debtors. This means that FTX users should not expect to recover anytime soon.

Silvergate reports a $1 billion net loss in the fourth quarter of 2022

The fallout from the crypto winter continues to reverberate across the industry, with digital asset bank Silvergate reporting a huge Net loss of $1 billion in the fourth quarter. In a report published by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Silvergate disclosed $7.3 billion in customer deposits in the fourth quarter, up from approximately $12 billion in the third quarter. After hearing the news, ratings agency Moody's Investors Service downgraded Silvergate's rating to Ba1 from Baa2. That's rubbish status for those of you keeping track. It's all starting to make sense why Silvergate laid off 40% of its staff in early January.

Digital Currency Group Halts Dividends in Effort to Preserve Liquidity

The bad news around Digital Currency Group, or DCG, continues to mount after the capital markets firm informed investors that stop quarterly dividend payments indefinitely. It's no secret that DCG faces liquidity constraints tied to its Genesis Global Trading subsidiary. The issues surrounding Genesis have been brought to light publicly by Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss, who wrote a letter to the DCG board of directors accusing the company of orchestrating "a carefully crafted campaign of lies" to hide the gaping hole in Genesis's balance sheet. In the last revision, it was estimated that DCG owed its creditors over $3 billion.

Hong Kong investment fund raises $500M to drive mass adoption on Web3

Month after month of “only down” in the crypto markets has left many of us jaded about the future of the industry. But behind the scenes, venture capital continues to pour millions into promising crypto-focused use cases. This week, the Hong Kong investment manager HashKey Capital announced a $500 million fund a support the future of Web3 adoption. The new FinTech Investment Fund III will invest primarily in projects at the intersection of blockchain infrastructure, tools and applications that can take advantage of Web3 technology. “Web3 is growing too fast to be ignored,” HashKey chief investment officer Xiao Xiao told Cointelegraph. “Many traditional institutions and internet giants are interested in cryptocurrencies. Some are learning to participate in this paradigm shift."

Before You Go: Is Bitcoin In A Bull Run Or Bull Trap?

of bitcoins (BTC) price soared more than 25% over the past week, marking its biggest seven-day rally in nearly two years. Investors are naturally wondering if the bear market is over. Although there is a decent chance that Bitcoin has bottomed outI wouldn't get too excited about a prolonged rally just yet. this week Market ReportI sat down with analysts Marcel Pechman and Joe Hall to discuss the short- and medium-term outlook for BTC. You can watch the full replay below.

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