In April 2023, FTX's bankruptcy estate sold a 5% stake in AI coding startup Cursor for $200,000, a valuation that would now be worth approximately $3 billion following SpaceX's agreement to acquire the company at a $60 billion valuation. This deal has brought attention to one of the largest missed recoveries in crypto history.
SpaceX has announced its intention to acquire Cursor, with the option to buy the company later this year for $60 billion or pay $10 billion if the acquisition does not proceed. The move is part of Elon Musk's strategy to close the gap with competitors in the AI coding tools sector. The crypto aspect of the deal lies in the fact that Alameda Research, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, invested $200,000 in Anysphere, the company behind Cursor, in April 2022.
This investment gave Alameda a 5% stake in the company, which was later sold by FTX's estate for the same amount, resulting in a significant loss of potential revenue for creditors. The timing of the sale has raised questions about the management of FTX's bankruptcy, with Bankman-Fried arguing that the estate's decision to liquidate assets too quickly led to the destruction of billions of dollars in value. The case of the Cursor stake has become a prime example of the potential value that could have been realized if the estate had held onto its assets, with the stake's current valuation representing a 15,000% return on the initial investment.