In April 2023, the bankruptcy estate of FTX sold a 5% stake in AI coding startup Cursor for $200,000, a valuation that pales in comparison to the company's current worth of approximately $3 billion, following SpaceX's agreement to acquire it at a $60 billion valuation. This development has brought attention to the significant missed recovery in crypto history.
SpaceX's acquisition is part of Elon Musk's strategy to close the gap with competitors in the AI coding tools space. The deal is contingent on SpaceX's planned initial public offering, which targets a $2 trillion valuation.
The crypto connection lies in Alameda Research's $200,000 investment in Anysphere, the company behind Cursor, in April 2022. This investment bought roughly 5% of the company at a $4 million valuation. After FTX's collapse, the court-appointed estate sold the Cursor stake for the same $200,000, resulting in a significant loss for creditors. The timing of this sale is particularly awkward for FTX's bankruptcy administration, as it undermines the argument that the estate destroyed billions in value by liquidating assets too quickly.
Sam Bankman-Fried, currently serving a 25-year federal sentence, has argued that FTX's estate could have achieved a higher net asset value if it had held assets instead of selling them. The Cursor stake's valuation has increased significantly since its launch in early 2023, making it one of the steepest trajectories in software startup history.
While FTX customers have been repaid in dollar terms under the bankruptcy's distribution plan, they did not receive the upside from the assets' increased value, including the $3 billion forgone recovery from the Cursor stake.