Skybridge Capital Stops Withdrawals On A Fund Exposed To Crypto
- Skybridge Capital has announced the halt of withdrawals from its Legion Strategies fund
- Based in the Cayman Islands, the offshore fund has around $250 million in it
- The firm has 18% crypto exposure according to the founder Anthony Scaramucci
Joining the series of withdrawal suspensions and blocked access in the crypto industry, global investment manager Skybridge Capital has recently announced the halt of withdrawals from its Legion Strategies fund. On July 19, the founder of the company, Anthony Scaramucci, confirmed the move during an interview with CNBC.
Notably, the Legion Strategies fund is one of the company’s funds that has a fair amount of exposure to crypto. Based in the Cayman Islands, the offshore fund has around $250 million in it.
Scaramucci said that the board of directors has decided to temporarily suspend the withdrawals from Legion Strategies until the company can raise capital inside the fund.
“The fund is unlevered, so there’s definitely no fear of any liquidation whatsoever, and about 18% of the fund is in what we would call crypto exposure.”
he stated.
Moreover, Scaramucci, also a former director of communications at the White House, revealed that an independent board also took part in the decision-making.
The funder of Skybridge Capital mentioned Bitcoin and exchange platform FTX‘s stock as examples of the fund’s crypto exposure. Kraken, Helium, NYDIG, Lightning, and Genesis Digital Assets are among a few of the cryptocurrency-related companies that are featured as investments on the Skybridge website.
However, they are not directly connected to Legion Strategies. According to Scaramucci, the Legion Strategies fund is down 30% year-to-date but up by 5% in July.
Legion Strategies, one of the smaller funds managed by the company, has seen withdrawal suspension for the first time since its founding in 1994.
“Everybody signed an investor agreement and this type of flexibility, so I don’t think there are any surprises here given what’s going on in the overall market.”
Scaramucci stated.
Major participation of Skybridge Capital in the crypto industry
Founded in 2005, the company has been consistent with its investment in Bitcoin since late 2020, a time when the COVID pandemic revealed the potential of crypto and its urgent need.
In April 2022, Skybridge Capital announced that it was repositioning itself to “eventually be a leading cryptocurrency asset manager and adviser.” Moreover, in the same month, during the Australian Financial Review Crypto Summit, Skybridge Capital’s founder said that the crypto industry has a very bright future. However, he expressed his beliefs on American politics and called it a “very weak leadership.”
Interestingly, in January, Scaramucci made a bold statement that BTC would touch the $500,000 mark in the next four or five years.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
