Crypto investor Galois to shut flagship fund after FTX collapse

GALOIS Capital, a crypto investment firm known for betting against the Luna token before its implosion last year, is closing its flagship fund after it was hit by the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

The fund had lost almost half its assets in “the FTX disaster and then sold the claim for cents on the US dollar,” Galois co-founder Kevin Zhou said in a series of tweets on Monday (Feb 20).

“Although this is the end of an era for Galois, the work we have done together for the past few years has not been in vain,” Zhou said. “I can’t say more than this for now.”

Galois Capital had as much as US$45 million of assets exposed to FTX’s bankruptcy in November, it told Bloomberg News earlier. Zhou shot to fame last year when he warned about the impending collapse of the Terra ecosystem and profited from shorting its Luna token. Terra cratered in May and Luna became worthless, sending a wave of bankruptcies rippling across the crypto sector.

“Given the severity of the FTX situation, we do not think it is tenable to continue operating the fund both financially and culturally,” Zhou said in a letter to investors, the Financial Times reported earlier. “Once again I’m terribly sorry about the current situation we find ourselves in.”

The fund’s closure would see clients receive 90 per cent of the money not trapped on FTX, according to the FT, with the remaining 10 per cent temporarily held back until discussions with the FTX estate are finalised. Zhou and other representatives for the firm didn’t immediately respond to requests for further comment. BLOOMBERG