FTX Bankruptcy: $1.9B in Solana Tokens Sold, Attracting Industry Giants

FTX bankruptcy administrators have sold a two-thirds portion of their $2.6 billion Solana (SOL) stash at a discounted price of $64 each, potentially raising up to $1.9 billion for the estate. Industry giants such as Galaxy Trading and Pantera Capital participated in the deal, which involved the sale of approximately 25-30 million locked-up SOL coins. The sale attracted interest due to the discounted price in exchange for a four-year lock-up period.

FTX Bankruptcy Administrators Sell $1.9 Billion in Solana Tokens, Attracting Industry Giants

In a significant development in the ongoing FTX bankruptcy proceedings, the administrators have concluded the sale of a substantial portion of the exchange's $2.6 billion Solana (SOL) holdings at a deeply discounted price.

According to sources familiar with the matter, the deal involved the sale of between 25 million and 30 million SOL tokens, which were locked up and unavailable for trading. Each token was sold for $64, potentially raising up to $1.9 billion for the FTX estate.

The sale garnered significant interest from prominent players in the crypto industry, including Galaxy Trading and Pantera Capital. Galaxy Trading, a unit of Mike Novogratz's Galaxy Digital, reportedly raised approximately $620 million for a fund dedicated to purchasing SOL from the FTX estate.

"Basically, you're exchanging time for a discount — you have to lock up your capital for four years, but you get to pay much less for the tokens," explained Eva Weng, head of investments at Caladan, a crypto market maker uninvolved in the SOL transactions.

The FTX estate initially paused the SOL sale process in early March due to "significant buyer interest." The estate has not disclosed the precise quantity of tokens sold or their selling price, and the timing of their resumption remains uncertain.

However, the estate is currently selling a total of 41 million SOL tokens. These tokens are not immediately tradable on the market due to a pre-agreed vesting period that will gradually extend over four years.

FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who was convicted of fraud, was once a prominent backer of SOL, which constituted a substantial portion of the digital assets locked on the exchange when it collapsed.

Other notable investors participating in the SOL sale include Pantera, a $5.2 billion asset manager that was raising money for a fund to acquire up to $250 million worth of SOL from the FTX estate, and Vancouver-based Neptune Digital Assets Corp., which announced the purchase of 26,964 SOL for $1.7 million on March 27.

The sale of such a large quantity of SOL at a discounted price has raised questions about the potential impact on the token's market value in the long term. However, analysts believe that the deal could provide some relief to the FTX estate, which is facing a significant financial shortfall.

As the FTX bankruptcy proceedings continue, it remains to be seen how the remaining SOL tokens will be disposed of and what their eventual impact on the market will be.