Tracy Wang
Tracy is a deputy managing editor at CoinDesk. She owns BTC, ETH, MINA, ENS, USDC, and some NFTs.
Mysten Labs, the team behind the Sui blockchain, entered into an agreement on Wednesday with the FTX bankruptcy estate to purchase FTX’s equity investment in Mysten Labs and sui token warrants for $96.3 million in cash, according to court filings.
The buyback agreement marks the ongoing efforts of FTX CEO John J. Ray III to maximize what creditors recover from Sam Bankman-Fried’s collapsed crypto exchange, a process that includes the liquidation of several crown jewels in the FTX Ventures portfolio.
Mysten Labs, which has yet to release its highly anticipated SUI token, offered to repurchase the assets in an offer letter to the FTX estate on March 16. According to court filings, the FTX bankruptcy estate retained investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners (PWP) to solicit interest from other potential buyers before ultimately entering into the deal with Mysten.
Read More: FTX Bankruptcy Estate to Claw Back $460M From Modulo Capital
In August, FTX Ventures Mysten Labs’ high-profile $2 billion Series B fundraise, just months before FTX filed for bankruptcy in November. The firm invested $101 million in the round, receiving about 570,000 shares of preferred equity in Mysten Labs and warrants to purchase up to about 890,000,000 SUI tokens, according to court filings. FTX entities paid about $101 million for the equity and an additional $1 million for the token warrants.
“After thoroughly evaluating alternatives with the assistance of PWP, the Debtors determined that it was in the best interest of their estates and their constituents to proceed with [Mysten Labs, Inc.] and work toward executing a mutually agreeable transaction, with the expectation that the Debtors will continue marketing the Interests and confirming that no higher and better offer exists over the course of the coming weeks,” said the filing.
Recommended for you:
- The SEC’s Scattershot Approach Shows Its Weakness
- Usuario de Uniswap pierde $8M en ether por ataque de phishing
- Crypto Advocate Sees 'Silver Lining' for the Industry in SEC's Warning to Coinbase
- Join the Most Important Conversation in Crypto and Web3 in Austin, Texas April 26-28
It appears the FTX estate can continue to “solicit higher or better offers from any third party” up until a sale date is finalized by the court.
A spokesperson for Mysten Labs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
