FTX bankruptcy drags more crypto companies into the abyss

Crypto lender Blockfi is also said to be in trouble. Also: Empty office space in Silicon Valley and Georg Kofler takes over the top position at Social Chain AG.

Good morning! While you slept, work continued elsewhere in the digital scene.

The top topics:

The bankruptcy of the crypto exchange FTX is circling as feared: According to a report by the “Wall Street Journal”, the FTX collapse also has the crypto lender Blockfi got into trouble. This may also prepare for an insolvency application, it said. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, on the other hand, still hopes he can raise enough money for the now-defunct crypto exchange to compensate its users. Bankman-Fried, who has since stepped down as CEO of the company, reportedly spent the weekend contacting potential investors. A few loyal employees are said to have supported him.

However, since there is a liquidity gap of around eight billion US dollars to be closed, the chances of success are rather slim. So far no one is said to have “bitten”. At the same time, it became known how serious the situation really is: Last week, when the company filed for bankruptcy protection, FTX stated that it had more than 100,000 creditors. In an updated filing Tuesday, however, the company’s lawyers wrote that there could actually be more than a million creditors. [Mehr bei Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal und CNBC]

on Start-up scene: ESOP programs are highly complex. What are the shares currently worth? When will the next shares be credited as part of the vesting period? Which employee holds how many shares? These are just a few questions that founders and employees ask themselves. The answers now come in the form of software. We present three practical solutions. [Mehr bei Gründerszene]

And here are the other headlines of the night:

Meta Platforms, Lyft, Salesforce and other tech companies that have fueled US office demand for years are now foreclosures and flooding business districts with office space as they downsize. San Francisco, Silicon Valley, New York and Austin are particularly affected. Amazon halted construction of new office buildings amid a hiring freeze in July and is now preparing to lay off thousands of workers. [Mehr bei Wall Street Journal]

SpaceX is in talks to raise new funds at a valuation of $150 billion, according to a media report. Elon Musk’s space company, who currently spends his days and nights in the Twitter headquarters, was valued at $ 125 billion when he received his last cash injection. This year, the company has already raised two billion in investments. The new round of funding will include a mix of new company shares and employee second shares, according to the report. [Mehr bei Bloomberg]

Apple will start buying some of its chips from a factory in the US state of Arizona starting in 2024. Apple CEO Tim Cook is said to have said this at an internal company meeting in Germany. So far, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) makes the A- and M-series processors that power iPhones and Mac computers. Should Apple buy US-made processors, it would mean significant supply chain diversification away from Taiwan. [Mehr bei Bloomberg und CNBC]

Enpal is growing rapidly due to the energy crisis and is looking for investors to expand, according to a media report. The Berlin solar startup, which specializes in the rental of solar panels, is seeking a further 150 million euros in capital. At the end of last year, Enpal was the first German start-up in the field of renewable energies to break the one billion US dollar valuation. Should the desired cash injection become a reality, this rating could double. [Mehr bei Handelsblatt]

George Koflerpreviously head of the supervisory board and largest shareholder of the troubled Social Chain AG, will take over as head of the social commerce company on January 1st. This was reported by the “Handelsblatt” late Tuesday evening. “fellow lion” and investor Ralf Dummel leaves the board. You can read more about the layoffs that are also pending and will affect about 30 of the approximately 500 jobs in our reading tip below. [Mehr bei Handelsblatt]

Our reading tip on Gründerszene: The merger with the Social Chain AG has opted for Ralf Dümmel’s DS group not worth it so far. Now Dümmel is laying off dozens of employees – these are the reasons. [Mehr bei Gründerszene]

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Happy Wednesday!

Your Gründerszene editors