SoftBank Group to Invest $75 Million in Block.one’s Bullish Exchange
- SoftBank’s unit SB Northstar LP will acquire 7.5 million Bullish shares at $10 each.
- The unit will also buy 3 million warrants to purchase shares of Far Peak, the SPAC set to take Bullish public.
Shutterstock
A unit of SoftBank Group is set to invest $75 million in Bullish, a new cryptocurrency exchange Block.one announced earlier in May. According to documents filed on 9 July with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, SoftBank’s subsidiary SB Northstar LP will acquire 7.5 million Bullish shares for $10 each.
SB Northstar LP will also buy 3 million warrants to purchase shares of Far Peak, the SPAC tasked with taking Bullish public. The unit will acquire the warrants either from the sponsors of SPAC, or its anchor investors, which include funds managed by BlackRock. James Cassel, the Chairman of Cassel Salpeter & Co., told Bloomberg the seller will take a $1.5 million loss by selling the warrants to SoftBank below cost. This is often done by SPACs to attract high-profile investors, he explained in an interview.
Upon the completion of the SPAC transaction, Far Peak’s CEO Thomas Farley will become the new CEO of Bullish. Farley previously served as a president of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
SoftBank made the commitment through a $300 million private offering Bullish held last week, the filings showed, but Bullish hasn’t identified it as one of the buyers in any of its press releases.
Earlier this month, SoftBank invested $200 million in Mercado Brazil. The bank participated in the exchange’s Series B funding round held at the end of June, making it the largest investment it has ever made into a Latin American crypto company. SoftBank has previously invested in various cryptocurrency companies, but most of its bets in crypto have been much smaller both from its Bullish acquisition and its Mercado Brazil investment.
- The EOS Network Foundation is calling on the EOS community to opt-out from the proposed settlement as it “does not adequately compensate” for the losses caused by Block.one.
- Not only are the $22 million a tiny fraction of the $4 billion raised during the EOS ICO, but the settlement will also bar community members for filing future complaints against the company.
Image of an EOS crypto token. Bybit / Flickr
- The secondary investment round was led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund2 and Latin America Fund, and saw participation from GIC Capital, Ribbit Capital and CapitalG.
- The goal of the round was not to raise capital for DCG, but provide early investors with the “opportunity” to exit and take profits.
- Candy’s Series A funding round was co-led by Softbank Vision Fund 2 and Insight Partners, and valued the company at $1.5 billion.
- The NFT startup has already partnered with sport brands such as Major League Baseball, MLB Players Association, Race Team Alliance, and several college athletes.