Crypto hedge fund Galois Capital has confirmed that it’s closing doors on it’s flagship fund after continued emerging reports surrounding the fund’s exposure to FTX. Galois joins the ranks of BlockFi, Sequoia Capital, Genesis and other firms that have been caught in the FTX crossfire.
It takes time for dominos to fall, and despite FTX’s collapse being nearly 4 months in the making, Galois’ collapse is not a surprise for some. Let’s review what’s been revealed in the early stages of the firm’s shutdown.
Early Stages: What We Know So Far
It’s a large fall from grace from what was one of crypto’s largest hedge funds; Galois at one point managed nearly a quarter of a billion dollars worth of assets at it’s peak. In November, immediately following FTX’s fall, it was largely believed that Galois had nearly half of its assets on FTX’s platform.
A report from the Financial Times on Sunday largely confirmed these suspicions, comparing Galois’ fall to that of hedge funds that fell to the behest of the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2018. FT’s report cites a Galois letter claimed that 90% of funds not on the FTX platform would be returned to clients, with the remaining 10% held until further discussions with auditors takes place. Galois has since sold FTX claims for 16 cents on the dollar.
The hedge fund was led by Kevin Zhou, a respected crypto veteran who made plenty of ‘right calls’ in his day, including timely fades on Solana and Terra. In a departing Twitter thread (posted below), Zhou confirmed the shutdown, noting that despite the FTX exposure Galois would shut down as one “among the few who are closing shop with an inception-to-date performance which is still positive.”
FTX's collapse is largely best articulated by one look at the chart behind it's platform token, FTT. | Source: FTT-USD on TradingView.com
FTX Fallout: Galois Isn’t Alone
Just last month, our team covered the narrow escape of Digital Surge, an Australian crypto exchange that had roughly $25M worth of exposure on FTX. Digital Surge suspended operations after FTX’s shutdown, and has since received a partial bailout and has signed a recovery plan allowing the exchange to continue operations this week.
Not all operations were as lucky, however. The aforementioned BlockFi and Genesis exchanges have filed for bankruptcy since the collapse of FTX, and the fallout from FTX’s collapse is still being felt today, over 3 months later. It’s likely that Galois will not be the final domino to fall, too.
The news is largely considered a net loss for the crypto atmosphere. Zhou is generally well-respected in the space, as many of crypto’s most notable faces offered support in the fund’s departing Twitter thread; as the old adage goes, “this too shall pass.”
Crypto will endure. These setbacks are temporary and will come to pass. Stay strong and good luck. I’ll see you guys around.
— Galois Capital (@Galois_Capital) February 20, 2023
