Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has denied reports that his two companies, FTX ventures and Alameda Research, are merging venture capital operations.
The news comes after Sam Trabucco, co-CEO of crypto asset fund Alameda Research, announced on Twitter on Aug. 25 that he would be stepping down from his leadership role.
Caroline Ellison will be the company’s sole CEO following the departure of Sam Trabucco.
Sources said the merger is part of an effort to strengthen billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried’s empire in response to a prolonged decline in cryptocurrency prices.
Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted back, “This seems like a big misinformation to me!”
He added, “FTX’s venture capital is concentrated under FTX Ventures — unlike Alameda’s venture capital, which is not.”
The venture capital arm of FTX and the venture capital business of sister company Alameda Research are not combined but operate independently as two companies.
Amy Wu, CEO of FTX Ventures, said that the FTX Cryptocurrency Exchange, FTX Ventures, and Alameda all operate entirely as separate entities from each other.
Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison explains that Alameda will focus primarily on exchanges, OTC, and decentralized finance.
She added, “We’re arm’s length and don’t get any different treatment from other market makers. The Alameda team isn’t working too much on the venture side day-to-day.”
FTX Ventures launched earlier this year and raised $2 billion in January, during which no money changed hands between FTX and Alameda.
FTX manages assets through Alameda Research, a quantitative cryptocurrency trading firm, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried in October 2017.
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