FTX Crypto Exchange Restart Plan Draws Possible Bid From Tribe Capital

Yueqi Yang and Jeremy Hill, Bloomberg News

The FTX Cryptocurrency Derivatives Exchange logo on a digital device arranged in Riga, Latvia, Nov. 24, 2022. The implosion of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX empire dealt a harsh blow to the Bahamas’ ambitions to be a hub for the crypto industry, and it’s causing massive pain for locals who treated the now-bankrupt exchange like a bank. Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- FTX’s potential plan to reboot its crypto exchange has attracted interest from Tribe Capital, a venture firm that invested in the platform before FTX collapsed and is now considering a fresh capital injection to jump-start the effort.

Tribe co-founder Arjun Sethi met with FTX’s committee of unsecured creditors in January to discuss the informal proposal, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential talks. Tribe is considering leading a $250 million fund-raising campaign, anchored by $100 million from itself and its limited partners, one of the people said.

Founded in 2018, Tribe was a venture investor in both FTX, the international exchange, and FTX US, the American entity. With more than $1.6 billion under management, the San Francisco-based firm invests in a range of startups, including crypto platform Kraken, payments firm Bolt, and e-commerce vendor Shiprocket.

John J. Ray III, FTX’s new chief executive officer, aims to decide in the second quarter whether a restart is feasible, according to a presentation in bankruptcy court. FTX attorney Andrew G. Dietderich said during a hearing last week that the company is still in the early stages of assessing the idea, and that a restart would require a significant amount of cash, which may come from third-party investors.

Tribe’s proposal in January included an estimated 9 million customer accounts, FTX US, FTX Australia, FTX Japan, FTX EU, FTX International and LedgerX, while excluding a venture capital portfolio and crypto assets, among others, the people said. The new exchange would continue to use the FTX name.

In a statement, FTX’s committee of unsecured creditors said it is “working with the debtors to evaluate all options to reboot or sell the FTX exchanges,” and that “there’s no definitive timetable for a reboot or sale of the exchanges at this time.” Representatives for Tribe and FTX’s current management declined to comment.

FTT, the native token of FTX exchange, jumped by 18% to $2.16 at 1:02pm in New York following the news, according to data from CoinGecko.

FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried’s digital-asset empire, fell into bankruptcy in November, leaving creditors with at least $11.6 billion of claims and destabilizing an entire market. Bankman-Fried awaits trial in October after pleading not guilty to fraud and campaign-finance law charges.

Any effort to reboot the exchange would face significant regulatory and compliance challenges. Ray, who has for decades steered companies including Enron Corp. through bankruptcy, called FTX the worst failure of corporate controls he had ever seen.

(Updates with comment from FTX committe of unsecured creditors in sixth paragraph)