Originally $200k could become $3 billion! FTX sold Cursor equity cheaply, now Musk is pouring in big money to buy it.

Cursor, owned by SpaceX under Elon Musk, was acquired in a deal valued at $60 billion, causing the value of the 5% stake to surge to $3 billion. However, the FTX liquidation team had already sold it for a bargain at the original price, missing out on a potential 15,000x return.

Recently, the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has once again become the focus of market discussion. The reason is not the progress of creditor compensation, but that the FTX bankruptcy liquidation team, years ago, sold its equity in the AI startup Cursor for only $200,000—yet now its value has reportedly surged to about $3 billion, with potential gains as high as 15,000x.

Earlier this week, SpaceX led by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, dropped a major shock in the market. It announced it had obtained the rights to acquire the AI startup Cursor for $60 billion; if the acquisition ultimately cannot be completed, it will pay $10 billion to drive cooperation between both sides.

This headline-grabbing deal not only shocked markets worldwide, but unexpectedly pulled another “incidental case” into the spotlight. Looking back to April 2022, Alameda Research—an FTX sister company founded by Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF)—invested $200,000 into Cursor’s parent company, Anysphere, valuing it at $4 million to obtain roughly 5% of the shares.

But in just one year, Alameda Research and FTX both filed for bankruptcy protection. To quickly raise cash, the bankruptcy liquidation team appointed by the court ended up unloading the Cursor equity for the original purchase price of $200,000—despite having bought it in that amount.

If we use SpaceX’s $60 billion price as a benchmark, the value of this 5% stake is now as high as $3 billion. By selling it off early, the parties missed out on a potential return of up to 15,000x. What could have maximized compensation for creditors instead ended up in the pockets of a mysterious buyer who snapped up the opportunity for a bargain during that year’s bankruptcy process.

This transaction undoubtedly provides the strongest ammunition for SBF, who is currently serving time in prison. Over the past year, SBF has repeatedly spoken from prison, blasting the bankruptcy liquidation team for pursuing a fast closure and selling assets at any cost during the market downturn, severely harming customers’ interests.

In February this year, SBF submitted an asset valuation, claiming that if the liquidation team could “hold on” to these shares and cryptocurrencies—getting through the downturns of 2023 and 2024—FTX’s net asset value (NAV) should now be able to reach $78 billion.

• This article is reprinted with permission from: 《Block Beast》
• Original title: 《$200,000 Turns into $3 Billion! FTX’s Bargain Sale of “Cursor Equity” Missed 15,000x Returns》
• Original author: Block Sister MEL