Auros Rises from FTX-Related Crisis with $17M Investment Infusion

Auros, a market-making and crypto trading firm affected by the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, has successfully weathered its liquidity challenges, as revealed by Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Benjamin Roth.

Following a court-supervised provisional liquidation and a major debt restructuring, Auros secured a $17 million investment led by traditional high-frequency trading firm Vivienne Court Trading and publicly listed Bitcoin mining company Bit Digital (BTBT).

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This breakthrough comes after months of internal efforts to keep the business afloat amidst FTX's downfall, which triggered the collapse of multiple crypto firms and substantial losses for various trading companies.

Prior to FTX's downfall, Auros held a position among the top 10-15 digital asset market makers and operated around 1%-2% of the overall crypto trading volume, as reported by the company.

However, the firm faced liquidity problems in November, when approximately $20 million of its digital assets got stuck on the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX, causing missed payments on nearly $18 million in decentralized finance (DeFi) loans.

For roughly five months, the British Virgin Islands court supervised the provisional liquidation process as Auros negotiated debt repayment and worked to compensate creditors.

Auros CIO Benjamin Roth stated that the company is putting the FTX fiasco behind them, asserting that Auros is “the same company that <it was> pre-FTX.”

Benjamin Roth highlighted that Auros had intended to raise capital before FTX's collapse, but court supervision complicated the fundraising efforts.

The investment from Australia-based traditional trading firm Vivienne Court signals its entrance into the digital asset trading market.

Regarding the investment, Roth said that Vivienne Court was "not in crypto, and they were thinking of getting into crypto." Vivienne Court co-founder Marcel Klooss added that the two firms possess "complementary skill sets and unique attributes that will generate sustained synergies."

Nasdaq-listed BitDigital, the second-largest investor, will act as both a client and strategic partner for Auros' emerging derivatives solutions business, providing yield and protection services to clients.