If the deal goes ahead, it will not be the first time that FTX has initiated an acquisition with a credit line.
The acquisition talks between BlockFi and FTX could be coming to an end.
Unidentified sources told CNBC on Thursday that CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange FTX could pay about $25 million to acquire the struggling crypto lender.
Although his company declined to comment to Decrypt, BlockFi CEO Zac Prince took to Twitter to debunk the news.
“There’s a lot of market buzz out there,” Prince wrote in a tweet shortly after the CNBC story broke. “I can confirm 100% that they are not selling us for $25 million.”
Lots of market rumors out there – I can 100% confirm that we aren’t being sold for $25M.
I encourage everyone to trust only details that you hear directly from @BlockFi.
We will share more w you as soon as we can.
— Zac Prince (@BlockFiZac) June 30, 2022
If an agreement were reached, FTX would pay pennies for the beleaguered crypto lending firm. New Jersey-based BlockFi was valued at $3 billion when it raised its $ 350 million Series D round last March .
The company has since reached a $100 million settlement with state regulators and the US Securities and Exchange Commission over its BlockFi interest accounts and is rumored to now hold a large chunk of the toxic debt as part of the ventures. consequences of the liquidation of the hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.
An FTX spokesperson told Decrypt in an email that it “would not comment on the matter.” Meanwhile, a BlockFi spokesperson said the company “does not comment on market rumors.”
Last week, BlockFi and FTX announced that the lender had secured a $250 million revolving line of credit from the exchange.
“This agreement also unlocks future collaboration and innovation between BlockFi & FTX as we work to accelerate prosperity around the world through cryptocurrency financial services,” BlockFi CEO Zac Prince tweeted at the time.
If FTX does end up acquiring BlockFi, it will not be the first time it has started term sheet negotiations by offering a ransom. The exchange did something similar with Japanese fintech company Liquid Group , eventually closing the deal to buy the company for an undisclosed amount in April.
FTX offered the company a $120 million loan after $90 million was stolen in a hack, and then announced that it was in talks to acquire the company in February this year.