The FTX estate sold its stake in Anysphere, an AI startup, for US$200,000 in April 2023.

This sale occurred before Anysphere’s valuation increased to US$9 billion, according to a report by the Financial Times.

Anysphere, founded in 2022, created Cursor, an AI coding tool funded early on by Alameda Research.

The stake was sold for its original value following FTX and Alameda’s bankruptcy in November 2022 due to financial mismanagement.

Anysphere’s valuation soared with successive fundraises in 2023 to 2025, including a US$900 million round led by Thrive Capital, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz and Accel.

If the FTX estate had kept its shares, the investment could have grown significantly, as seen in a similar case with Anthropic in 2024.

🔗 Source: The Block

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ AI valuations create unique challenges for bankruptcy liquidators

The massive valuation gap between Anysphere’s sale price and current worth highlights the difficult task faced by bankruptcy liquidators in fast-moving tech sectors.

AI startups specifically have commanded extraordinary multiples, with median valuations reaching 29.7x revenue according to industry analysis 1, creating valuation dynamics unlike other sectors.

The FTX estate operated under tremendous pressure to quickly generate cash for creditors while managing over 130 affiliated entities and liabilities estimated between $10-50 billion 2.

This tension between immediate creditor repayment and long-term value retention represents a fundamental challenge in bankruptcy proceedings, especially when dealing with emerging technology assets.

With 44 U.S. AI startups raising over $100 million each in 2024 alone 3, bankruptcy administrators face significant difficulty in valuing early-stage AI investments that could either collapse or experience exponential growth.

2️⃣ Venture capital’s portfolio approach outperforms bankruptcy liquidation processes

The $200,000 Anysphere investment that could have been worth $500+ million illustrates how bankruptcy liquidation undermines the fundamental venture capital model that Alameda originally operated under.