Robinhood CEO Unsure About FTX Founder’s Stake in Company

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s 7.6% stake in Robinhood is tied up in bankruptcy court.

That’s according to Robinhood’s CEO, who told CNBC Tuesday (Dec. 6) that he’s not sure what Bankman-Fried (often referred to as “SBF”) will do with his shares.

“I’m not surprised that it’s one of the more valuable assets they have on their balance sheet because it is public company’s stock,” Vlad Tenev said.

“We don’t have a lot of information that you guys don’t have. We’re just watching this unfold and … it’s going to be locked up in bankruptcy proceedings, most likely for some time. And so we’re just kind of seeing how that plays out.”

Bankman-Fried purchased his stake in Robinhood in May (while also possibly considering buying the company).

When FTX collapsed last month, the founder’s stake in Robinhood became the largest liquid item on his balance sheet, the CNBC report noted. It’s also been sought by trading firm BlockFi, which declared bankruptcy in the wake of the FTX crisis.

Meanwhile, Tenev told CNBC he’s still confident in the future of cryptocurrencies in spite of the FTX implosion.

“We still see opportunities with crypto. I think in particular customers have been looking for regulated safer options, particularly customers in the U.S.,” he said.

Also feeling bullish about crypto these days is Goldman Sachs. As reported Tuesday, the Wall Street banking giant is trying to purchase or invest in cryptocurrency companies, saying the fall of FTX has underscored the need for more trusted players in the field.

“We do see some really interesting opportunities, priced much more sensibly,” Matthew McDermott, Goldman’s head of digital assets, said in an interview with Reuters.

PYMNTS has maintained that cryptocurrency still has a future as a payment method even after the downfall of FTX.

“It bears repeating that FTX is not, by any means, a direct stand-in for crypto, and it is unfair to paint the entire industry with the scarlet letter of the exchange’s failure,” we wrote recently.

“Despite the echo chamber of negative headlines surrounding crypto, the Web3-grounded currency solution is still viewed as an important and emergent, bleeding-edge space — particularly within commerce.”

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