Bitcoin billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried bails out embattled crypto firms BlockFi and Voyager

cnbc.com:

With no central bank willing to come to the rescue, beleaguered crypto companies are turning to their peers for help.

Billionaire crypto exchange boss Sam Bankman-Fried has signed deals to bail out two firms in as many weeks: BlockFi, a quasi-bank, and Voyager Digital, a digital asset brokerage.

FTX, Bankman-Fried's crypto exchange, agreed Tuesday to provide BlockFi with a $250 million revolving credit facility. Bankman-Fried said the financing would help BlockFi «navigate the market from a position of strength.»

«We take our duty seriously to protect the digital asset ecosystem and its customers,» he tweeted.

It comes after BlockFi said earlier this month that it would lay off 20% of its staff. Meanwhile, a report from The Block said earlier this month that BlockFi was in talks to raise funds in a deal valuing the firm at $1 billion, down from $3 billion last year.

Zac Prince, BlockFi co-founder and CEO, said the deal with FTX was more than just a round of debt, adding it «also unlocks future collaboration and innovation» between the two firms.

Last week, Voyager Digital said Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried's quantitative research firm, would provide it with $500 million in financing.

The deal consists of a $200 million credit line of cash and USDC stablecoins, as well as a separate 15,000-bitcoin revolving facility worth approximately $300 million at current prices.

A plunge in the value of digital currencies in recent weeks has resulted in numerous key players in the space facing financial difficulty.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are falling hard as the market grapples with the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes and the $60 billion collapse of terraUSD, a so-called stablecoin, and its sister token luna.

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