Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik pointed out that if Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) had completed the acquisition of FTX in November 2022, it would have become one of the most valuable venture portfolios in the history of technology by now.
Sam Bankman Fried’s personal and FTX-related investments, which include an 8% stake in Anthropic, 5% in Cursor and exposure to SpaceX, are now worth more than $100 billion, according to a Forbes analysis released in May.
What exactly did CZ walk away from?
Before the collapse of FTX, the portfolio Bankman Freed had built was surprisingly strong. According to Forbes magazine and other reports, this included an 8% stake in Anthropic, a 5% stake in Cursor, exposure to SpaceX, and other holdings such as Robinhood and Solana.
In November 2022, Binance terminated the acquisition agreement with the company, and immediately after that, the exchange has collapsed.
Had Binance completed the acquisition of FTX, these investments would have been moved to Binance’s balance sheet.
But instead, they were sent to bankruptcy court, where FTX Real Estate sold them to pay off creditors. Cursor shares were sold back to the founders in 2023 for just $200,000, but SpaceX acquired Cursor shares at a valuation of $60 billion, so the shares are now worth about $3 billion.
FTX invested approximately $500 million in Anthropic. The AI company is now valued at more than $600 billion, with some estimates pegging it closer to $900 billion. Each share could now be worth more than $70 billion.
Mr. Bankman Fried had amassed about $60 million when SOL was about $8, and was worth about $21 billion at its peak.
Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik Portfolio breakdown has been posted. In a letter to X on June 19, he called the decision “a rare CZ failure in hindsight.”
Rory O’Driscoll, a partner at Scale Venture Partners, said Bankman Freed had an uncanny ability to pick winning companies even before the AI boom.
Why did CZ pull out of the acquisition agreement with FTX?
Memoirs of Mr. Zhao“Money Freedom,” published in April 2026, describes Bankman Freed calling people in November 2022 and demanding billions of dollars “as casually as if he were ordering a bologna sandwich.”
Mr. Zhao signed a non-binding letter of intent (LOI), but said he had no intention of actually proceeding with the deal because he had no interest in owning FTX or supporting SBF. He said the LOI is “purely a formality” so his team can look at FTX’s numbers and consider whether it helps protect customers.
The deal fell apart within 72 hours, and Binance publicly withdrew from the acquisition on November 9, 2022, citing “alleged mishandling of customer funds and investigation by U.S. government agencies.”
Zhao also writes about the time Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison publicly offered to buy back Binance. $FTT She made a “fatal mistake” when she held the tokens at $22 each.
By showing the market where the price floor is, professional traders began shorting the token, pulling the token below that level. $FTT It fell from $22 to $5 in three days, and about $6 billion in withdrawals left FTX.
During an appearance on the All In Podcast in February 2026, Chao mentioned that Bankman Freed was lobbying Binance in Washington, D.C., but claimed that he nevertheless stood by his decision to sell his stake in Binance. $FTT The possession was not a planned attack.
Ironically, Binance’s own $FTT Its holdings, once worth $580 million, were “basically worthless” after the collapse, Zhao wrote.
