Both FTX co-founders were involved in securing funds for the Robinhood stakes acquisition.
Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), a cryptocurrency exchange FTX co-founder and former CEO, has borrowed $546 million from FTX-related trading firm Alameda Research to purchase stakes in crypto broker Robinhood.
According to the affidavit filed in the Antigua and Barbuda High Court by Sam Bankman-Fried, the former FTX CEO and FTX co-founder Zixiao “Gary” Wang took out the loans from Alameda Research in four promissory notes.
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It is worth noting that Bankman-Fried filed the affidavit on December 12th, the day he was arrested. However, the documents were made public only on December 27th.
The four promissory notes were taken on April 30th and May 15th. The first set of loans, given on April 30th, included around $317 million lent to SBF and approximately $35 million lent to Gary.
In another instance, on May 15th, Alameda Research lent around $194 million to Sam Bankman-Fried.
Based on the affidavit, the loans were used to purchase a 7,6% stake in crypto broker Robinhood under the name of SBF firm Emergent Fidelity Technologies Ltd. Bankman-Fried claims that the stakes were worth around $546 million. However, SBF emphasized that “the shares were acquired in tranches,” thus he cannot recall the exact price.
After completing the purchase, the obtained stakes were allegedly used as collateral for the loan taken by Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research from BlockFi.
The newly released affidavit can influence the ongoing legal procedures regarding 56 million Robinhood shares. On November 28th, digital asset lender BlockFi filed a lawsuit against Emergent Fidelity Technologies, aiming to obtain Robinhood shares, which were pledged as collateral.
FTX responded to the lawsuit by issuing a motion. On December 22nd, FTX filed a motion asking the United States Bankruptcy judge to prevent BlockFi from claiming Robinhood shares by enforcing an automatic stay.
