The FTX Estate's Billion-Dollar Mistake: SBF's Cursor, Anthropic and Robinhood Bets Got Dumped Too Soon

What Happened

The FTX bankruptcy estate clawed back billions for creditors — but new tallies show it may have left billions more on the table by selling Sam Bankman-Fried's most promising venture bets too early. Stakes the estate liquidated in AI coding startup Cursor, AI lab Anthropic, and brokerage Robinhood have all multiplied in value since they were sold, turning what looked like prudent estate management into a painful case of bad timing.

The estate's job was never to swing for the fences; it was to convert a chaotic pile of assets into cash to repay creditors as quickly and defensibly as possible. But in doing so it parted with positions in companies that have since become some of the hottest names in tech.

Why It Matters

Anthropic alone illustrates the gap. The AI lab's valuation has ballooned through successive funding rounds since the estate exited, meaning the stake FTX once held would be worth a multiple of the sale price today. Cursor, the AI coding tool that exploded in popularity, and Robinhood, whose shares have climbed sharply, tell similar stories. Add them up and the 'sold too early' column runs into the billions.

For FTX creditors — many of them retail users who lost access to funds in the 2022 collapse — the math is bittersweet. They are being made whole in dollar terms based on 2022-era claim values, while the upside on these assets accrued to whoever bought them from the estate. It's a reminder that bankruptcy recoveries are measured by the rules of the claim, not the peak value of the assets.

What's Next

The episode is fuel for the long-running debate over how crypto bankruptcies value and dispose of assets, especially illiquid venture stakes that can swing wildly after a forced sale. Expect it to be cited the next time an estate weighs selling fast for certainty versus holding for upside. For SBF, now serving his sentence, it's an awkward footnote: some of his best calls as an investor only paid off after they were no longer his.

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