FTX Investment Now Worth Zero, VC Giant Sequoia Says

Venture capital giant Sequoia Capital reassured investors the firm remained largely unaffected by the unraveling of crypto exchange giant FTX and wider decline in digital asset markets even as it marked its investment down to zero.

In a note to Limited Partners posted on the firm’s Twitter page, Sequoia said the exposure it has to FTX is limited, and whatever money it has lost has been offset by billions of dollars in gains.

Sequoia said that it has invested $150 million into FTX.com and FTX.us via its Global Growth III fund and $63.5 million into the exchange and its U.S. division via its SCGE Fund. These investments represent 3% of the Global Growth III fund and less than 1% of the SCGE fund.

“The $150 million loss is offset by the approximately $7.5 billion in realized and unrealized gains in the same fund, so the fund remains in good shape,” Sequoia wrote in a note.

The VC fund noted that in 2021, when it made the investments, FTX generated $1 billion in revenue and $250 million in operating income.

FTX’s investors include Softbank, Temasek Holdings, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Race Capital, and Lightspeed Venture Partners, among others.

“We are in the business of taking risk. Some investments will surprise to the upside, and some will surprise to the downside,” Sequoia wrote. “We do not take this responsibility lightly and do extensive research and thorough due diligence on every investment we make.”

FTT’s exchange token is currently trading at $2.40, down 58% on day.

UPDATE (Nov. 10, 03:20 UTC): Updates headline and first paragraph.