When Diversification Goes Wrong

in crypto •  2 years ago 

I have said many times that, if one has enough funds, that it is worth investing in crypto-related companies, not just coins.

This is how this can go horribly wrong!

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan to write down $95 million FTX investment to zero

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) said:

the investment in FTX reflected its approach to diversification. "Our strategy aims to diversify investments across asset classes, geography, time horizons, and economic outcomes to mitigate risk and enhance returns."

A quick look at their OTPP TVG portfolio shows no other crypto investments - somewhat like Tamesak.

Reminds me of the Warren Buffett quote, that "Diversification is protection against ignorance. It makes little sense if you know what you are doing."

In contrast, Sequoia Capital seemed very quick to write-off their investment on 9th November.

“At the time of our investment in FTX, we ran a rigorous diligence process,” it added. “In 2021, the year of our investment, FTX generated approximately $1 billion in revenue and more than $250 million in operating incoming [sic], as was made public in August 2022.” Sequoia says its investment in FTX is now worthless

Interestingly, Sequoia adds that they are “in the business of taking risk.”

Interesting because so much financial regulation around the world seems designed to strip the average individual of precisely this responsibility of "taking risks".

With so much due diligence from the stuffed suits, and the new FTX CEO saying that the financial chaos was not even well hidden, I still smell "crypto apoptosis" - a programmed death.

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  ·  2 years ago  ·  

So ... Did Sequoia cash out their 1.25 Billion or lose it all ? Curious to know. Looks like the Ontario teachers lost it all. But they say " No Big deal ... 100 Milllion loss is practically nothing ..." The Ontario Teachers will be going on Strike in a few weeks asking for Billions in increased Salary. So only the Kids suffer.... No big deal.

  ·  2 years ago  ·  

The letter laid out details of its exposure to FTX across different entities under the Sequoia umbrella, which totaled $213.5 million.

and

FTX is not a top ten position in the fund, and our $150 million cost basis accounts for less than 3% of the committed capital of the fund.”

so I'm assuming they either made some profit or is the difference between cost price and current value (before it crashed).

Ontario TPP seems to have lost it all.

This looks to me like the 2nd large investor with zero experience of crypto. I remain suspicious.

I know, it's a VC - it's risky - still...