Originally $200k could become $3 billion! FTX sold Cursor equity cheaply, now Musk is pouring in big money to buy it.

Cursor acquires a $60 billion valuation from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, causing the value of its 5% stake to soar to $3 billion. However, FTX’s liquidation team had already sold it at the original price at a bargain, missing out on a 15k-fold return.

Recently, the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has once again become a hot topic in the market. The reason is not the progress of creditor compensation, but because the FTX bankruptcy liquidation team sold the AI startup Cursor’s equity, which was only $200k several years ago, now valued at about $3 billion, with a potential return of up to 15k times.

Earlier this week, Elon Musk-led SpaceX made a shocking market move, announcing it had acquired the rights to buy the AI startup Cursor for $60 billion; if the acquisition is not completed, $10 billion will be paid to promote cooperation between both parties.

This astonishing deal not only shocked the global market but also unexpectedly revealed an “offshoot case.” Looking back to April 2022, Alameda Research, a sister company of FTX founded by Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), invested $200k in Cursor’s parent company Anysphere, acquiring about 5% of the shares at a valuation of $4 million.

In just one year, Alameda Research and FTX both filed for bankruptcy protection. To quickly raise cash, the bankruptcy liquidation team appointed by the court sold the Cursor equity at the original purchase price of $200k.

Using SpaceX’s sky-high valuation of $60 billion to estimate, this 5% stake is now worth up to $3 billion, missing out on a potential return of 15k times. What could have been a windfall to maximize creditor compensation ultimately ended up in the pockets of a mysterious buyer who bought it cheaply during the bankruptcy process.

This transaction undoubtedly provides the strongest defense ammunition for SBF, who is currently serving time in prison. Over the past year, SBF has repeatedly spoken out from prison, criticizing the bankruptcy liquidation team for selling assets at any cost during market lows to pursue a quick resolution, severely damaging the rights of customers.

In February this year, SBF proposed an asset estimate claiming that if the liquidation team had “held onto” these equities and cryptocurrencies, weathering the lows of 2023 and 2024, FTX’s net asset value (NAV) could now reach $78 billion.

• This article is reprinted with permission from: “Block Beast”
• Original title: “$200k Turns into $3 Billion! FTX’s Bargain Sale of ‘Cursor Equity’ Missed 15k Times Return”
• Original author: Block Sister MEL