FTX Estate Liquidations Miss Out on Billions in Potential Gains
FTX sold off major assets like Anthropic and Solana to fund creditor repayments, but the massive appreciation of those holdings since the sales has sparked debate over bankruptcy liquidation strategies.
FTX and Alameda Research held early-stage positions in assets that have seen significant appreciation over the last three years. The estate opted to sell most of these holdings to facilitate rapid creditor repayments, a strategy that has left billions in potential value on the table.
The most notable example is the estate's stake in the AI firm Anthropic. FTX held an 8% stake in the company, which was sold in 2024 for approximately $1.3 billion. With Anthropic’s valuation now reaching around $380 billion, that original stake would be worth over $30 billion today. This single position would have been worth more than three times the total amount distributed to creditors across all recovery efforts to date.
The estate also liquidated between 25 and 30 million SOL tokens at roughly $64 per token, totaling about $1.9 billion. With Solana currently trading above $130, those tokens would be worth more than $3 billion at current market prices.
As of March 31, 2026, the remaining venture investments held by the FTX estate have a fair value of $1.814 billion, with an additional $453 million in cash and digital assets.
The FTX Recovery Trust has distributed over $10 billion as of mid-2026. By standard bankruptcy metrics, many creditors are receiving more than 100% of their claim value based on the dollar amount at the time of the November 2022 filing.
This creates a point of contention for creditors, as recoveries are pegged to the market prices of November 2022. Those who held assets like Bitcoin or Solana on the exchange are being compensated based on those historical lows rather than the current market value of their holdings.
The situation has raised questions about how future bankruptcy proceedings might handle venture portfolios and digital assets. There is growing pressure to consider alternatives to immediate liquidation, such as distributing equity directly to creditors or utilizing structured vehicles that allow beneficiaries to capture future upside.
