In April 2023, FTX's bankruptcy estate sold a 5% stake in AI coding startup Cursor for $200,000, a valuation that has ballooned to approximately $3 billion following SpaceX's agreement to acquire the company at a $60 billion valuation. This staggering increase has brought attention to the significant losses incurred by FTX's estate, which had invested $200,000 in Anysphere, the company behind Cursor, in 2022. The subsequent sale of the stake for the same amount after FTX's collapse has been deemed one of the largest missed recoveries in crypto history.
The deal has also sparked debate over the valuation of assets during FTX's bankruptcy, with founder Sam Bankman-Fried arguing that the estate's liquidation of assets too quickly destroyed billions in value. The acquisition of Cursor by SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, is seen as a strategic move to close the gap with competitors in the AI coding tools space.
Meanwhile, FTX customers have been reimbursed in full, but the significant upside from the appreciation of assets like the Cursor stake has not been realized, representing a substantial forgone recovery.