Before it spiraled into bankruptcy, FTX spent hundreds of millions of dollars splashing out on investments in crypto startups. That spending spree likely saddled those startups with inflated valuations—raising questions about what those stakes will fetch when FTX tries to sell them.
Blockchain startups Mysten Labs and Aptos Labs, for instance, each landed valuations of more than $2 billion in FTX-led funding rounds in recent months, which looked like big wins during this year’s crypto downturn.
But two early Mysten investors told The Information they didn’t take part in the startup’s most recent fundraising because they thought the valuation was too high, given that it hasn’t publicly launched its blockchain, which is called Sui. And when Aptos launched its blockchain last month, it got off to a rocky start.