Share this article
BTC
$104,724.17
+
0.09%ETH
$2,522.59
-
0.61%USDT
$1.0004
+
0.00%XRP
$2.1521
-
1.43%BNB
$654.50
-
0.33%SOL
$154.09
-
1.11%USDC
$0.9998
-
0.00%DOGE
$0.1917
-
0.30%TRX
$0.2683
+
0.38%ADA
$0.6748
-
0.90%SUI
$3.2878
+
0.85%HYPE
$32.42
-
0.90%LINK
$13.94
+
0.30%AVAX
$20.70
-
0.02%XLM
$0.2657
-
0.24%BCH
$402.20
-
3.72%LEO
$8.6055
+
0.02%TON
$3.1271
+
1.20%SHIB
$0.0₄1294
+
1.83%HBAR
$0.1674
-
0.11%FTX Blowup Puts Trove of Prized Bored Apes at Risk of Liquidation
Yuga Labs, the NFT collective behind the majority of tokens held in the crypto empire’s wallet, has previously raised capital from FTX Ventures, although Alameda Research is in control of the wallet.
By Eli Tan, Cam Thompson
Updated Nov 10, 2022, 5:23 p.m. Published Nov 9, 2022, 9:38 p.m.
As Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto empire teeters on the brink of an solvency crisis, one potential source of money is a trove of prized non-fungible tokens (NFT) worth millions of dollars owned by Alameda Research.
The 92-NFT collection features 31 rare ones from the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection and 26 Otherdeed for Otherside tokens, both created by NFT powerhouse Yuga Labs.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the The Protocol Newsletter today. See all newslettersBy signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.
FTX Ventures, the $2 billion VC wing of the crypto empire, was a prominent investor in Yuga Labs’ $450 million funding round last March. A representative of the firm says that FTX's financial sibling Alameda Research is in charge of the wallet, and has previously traded Bored Apes as part of its NFT trading strategy.
The collection has an estimated value of between 4,000 and 5,000 ETH (or roughly $4.7 million to $5.8 million), according to Nikolai Yakovenko, the founder of NFT valuation site DeepNFTValue. That’s likely far from enough to prop up FTX, though, given how big it is and how badly wounded it seems to be.
Read more: Binance Walks Away From Deal to Acquire FTX
The situation is reminiscent of the Three Arrows Capital blowup that put the crypto hedge fund’s multimillion-dollar “Starry Night” NFT collection in jeopardy of liquidation earlier this year. No NFTs from that fund have so far been auctioned, though the entire collection was moved to a safehouse wallet in October.
Among the Alameda wallet’s rarest collectibles are three Bored Apes with gold fur, a trait with a floor price of 1,000 ETH. The last gold fur Bored Ape sold for 800 ETH, though in the event of liquidation, Yakovenko estimates each of the gold fur NFTs would fetch around 500 ETH given current market conditions.
The collection also has four “trippy fur” Bored Apes, a trait that currently sports a 599 ETH floor, according to OpenSea.
The wallet’s most recent Bored Ape activity was three months ago, according to Etherscan.
Eli Tan
Eli was a news reporter for CoinDesk who covered NFTs, gaming and the metaverse. He graduated from St. Olaf College with a degree in English. He holds ETH, SOL, AVAX and a few NFTs above CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1000.
Cam Thompson
Cam Thompson was a Web3 reporter at CoinDesk. She is a recent graduate of Tufts University, where she majored in Economics and Science & Technology Studies. As a student, she was marketing director of the Tufts Blockchain Club. She currently holds positions in BTC and ETH.
Top Stories
