The FTX estate is concluding its second round of sales for locked Solana tokens to reduce the debt of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange, with bids reaching around the $100 mark.
The estate is selling off 1.8 million SOL (equivalent to $232 million) in an auction held over the past couple of weeks. Bids were confirmed on April 25, with Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures and paperwork due today.
Bids for the locked Solana tokens varied from $85 to $110, with claims indicating that bids at $95 and above were successful. However, two sources told The Block that bids of as low as $85 would be likely rejected. At $95 per token, there is a 26% discount to current prices, while $110 represents a 15% discount. The discount on these tokens was attributed to their locked status, which delays their availability for sale.
Galaxy Trading sought additional funds from investors to bid for a share of the locked Solana tokens from the estate. Minimum investment requirements were raised this time, with the firm seeking at least $5 million in commitments from investors.
Pantera Capital reportedly acquired more locked Solana tokens in the latest auction, according to Bloomberg. Similar to other locked Solana tokens on offer, these tokens are subject to a four-year vesting schedule.
The estate plans to launch the next auction on May 1, as confirmed by Figure Markets CEO Mike Cagney. Figure Markets is establishing a special purpose vehicle for bidding on the locked SOL in the next auctions. The investment vehicle is open to non-U.S. investors and accredited U.S. investors, according to its website.
Prior to the recent auction, the FTX estate sold $1.9 billion worth of Solana (SOL). The sale equals nearly two-thirds of a SOL lot valued at $2.6 billion, which included up to 30 million SOL tokens priced at $64 each.
The transaction was postponed due to heightened buyer interest, with Galaxy Trading—a subsidiary of Galaxy Digital—disclosed its desire to acquire FTX’s SOL holdings. Galaxy Trading established a $620 million fund specifically for purchasing FTX’s SOL, charging a management fee of 1%.
Currently, the FTX estate still owns 41 million SOL tokens, locked and valued at an estimated $7.5 billion. The Solana token itself has seen fluctuations in its trading price, recorded at $174.2 at 1 p.m. ET today, following a nearly 7% decrease over the past 24 hours.
Since FTX’s collapse in November 2022, there has been interest from investors in acquiring a share of the firm’s Solana holdings, which constituted the largest portion of FTX’s digital asset portfolio. Other major assets included bitcoin, ether, and the Aptos blockchain’s native token, APT.
