SoftBank writes off $100 mn in bankrupt crypto exchange FTX

SAN FRANCISCO: Beleaguered Japanese investment firm SoftBank has reportedly written off about $100 million it invested as part of its Vision Fund 2 in now bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.

According to MarketWatch, the investment is now marked down to zero with SoftBank saying "it would not face a material markdown in the value of its stake".

SoftBank had backed FTX after the startup raised $400 million in January, valuing it at $32 billion.

SoftBank has now disclosed a $100 million venture capital investment in crypto broker FTX.

Softbank CFO Yoshimitsu Goto was quoted as saying that $100 billion Vision Fund invested in FTX "as a minor stake in the company".

"If any case of markdown but still that is very not material for us," Goto said during the company's second quarter (Q2) results.

SoftBank has a history of pouring money in bad startups, like the $18.5 billion investment in WeWork.

The Japanese VC firm also infused $500 million into digital mortgage lender better.com which laid off thousands of employees under its Indian-origin Co-founder and CEO Vishal Garg.

Crypto exchange FTX has admitted that "unauthorised transactions" have drained hundreds of millions of dollars from its wallets, saying the company has moved many digital assets to a new "cold wallet custodian".

FTX, which last week filed for bankruptcy in the US, did not reveal how much it lost in unauthorised transactions but reports claimed the amount could be as high as $600 million.