Sam Bankman Fried (SBF) has beforehand argued that FTX might have regained its worth had its belongings been given time to recuperate, and now he has new proof for that declare within the type of SpaceX’s multibillion-dollar take care of Curser.
A 5% stake in AI startup Cursor was value $200,000 in 2023, however because of a brand new $60 billion take care of SpaceX, that very same 5% stake is now value $3 billion.
How a lot did FTX promote its Cursor inventory for?
In April 2022, Alameda Analysis, a buying and selling firm based by Sam Bankman Freed (SBF), invested $200,000 in Anysphere, a developer of the AI coding instrument Cursor. The funding acquired roughly 5% of the corporate’s inventory.
A yr later, FTX went bankrupt and the chapter courtroom took management of the corporate. In April 2023, the FTX Chapter Basis bought its 5% stake for $200,000, the identical quantity Alameda had paid a yr earlier.
Nonetheless, SpaceX introduced At the moment we signed a significant partnership with Cursor. Below the deal, SpaceX has an possibility to purchase all the firm for $60 billion. If they do not select it, they’ll pay $10 billion for the partnership.
Primarily based on its $60 billion valuation, the 5% stake that FTX bought for $200,000 is now value about $3 billion, representing a 15,000x return.
Why is that this vital to incarcerated SBFs?
Sam Bankman Freed is presently in jail, however stays lively on social media. He has been preventing for clemency, arguing that FTX was not really bankrupt and that its chapter legal professionals bought off its belongings too shortly, destroying worth.
In February 2026, SBF shared a graph suggesting that had FTX not been pressured into chapter 11, its web asset worth might have reached $78 billion after asset costs recovered.
Cryptocurrency business legal professional John Deaton dismissed these claims on the time, saying the projected worth doesn’t change the truth that clients suffered losses and that courts have already dominated on the matter.
Now, with the Cursor deal, it is exhausting to agree that the legal professionals maximized worth three years in the past.
SBF’s dad and mom have additionally been lively in campaigning for clemency, showing on CNN in March to assert that FTX clients had gotten their a refund.
Collectors identified that the compensation quantity is predicated on 2022 costs, not present market costs. Prospects who had 1 Bitcoin obtained a payout based mostly on the November 2022 Bitcoin value of $16,800.
President Trump is mentioned Though he has no intention of pardoning SBF, and prediction markets presently see a 5% probability of a pardon in 2026, SBF seems decided to press forward along with his model of occasions regardless.
