Galaxy Digital has invested $44 million into an institutional cryptocurrency custody platform to tap into its proprietary asset storage and management capabilities. Mike Novogratz’s cryptocurrency investment firm has completed the acquisition of GK8, which has developed its own patent cryptocurrency custody technology aimed at giving secure asset management for institutional users. The service specializes in providing cold vault technology that allows the execution of transactions without internet connectivity. Its in-house multi-party computation (MPC) vault provides the ability to automate transactions, and the service also provides access to Decentralized Finance (DeFi) networks, tokenization, NFT and trading. A statement from Novogratz highlighted …
Galaxy Digital Holdings CEO, Mike Novogratz, believes there's a chance Bitcoin (BTC) could return to $30,000 or above before the end of March. According to a Feb. 15 Bloomberg report Novogratz spoke at a Bank of America conference the same day and said he would’ve been the “happiest guy” if 2022 ended with BTC at $30,000, but added: “When I look at the price action, when I look at the excitement of the customers calling, the FOMO building up, it wouldn’t surprise me if we were at $30,000 by the end of the quarter.” The prediction is much lower than …
SkyBridge Capital CEO Anthony Scaramucci said that his firm can buy back the stake of the company it sold to FTX back in September last year. While Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz has indicated that he would be tempted to “punch” SBF right in the jaw. SkyBridge and FTX FTX Ventures acquired a 30% stake in the alternative asset manager SkyBridge for an undisclosed fee on Sept. 9, just a couple of months before FTX filed for bankruptcy in November. Speaking to CNBC on Jan. 13, Scaramuci noted that in light of FTX’s troubles, SkyBridge is making progress in buying …
Publicly-listed Bitcoin (BTC) mining company Argo Blockchain saw a significant drop in mining activity in December due to a winter storm in Texas. On Jan. 11, Argo released its first operational update since selling its flagship mining facility Helios to Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital. The company said it mined 147 Bitcoin or BTC equivalents in December, compared to 198 BTC in November 2022. As of Dec. 31, Argo held 141 BTC, with its December mining revenue amounting to $2.49 million, the firm said. Argo’s total debt was approximately $79 million, and its bank balance was about $20 million. According to …
Galaxy Digital Holdings CEO Mike Novogratz hosed down fears over the crisis facing Digital Currency Group (DCG) and Genesis saying while it’s “not good news,” it won’t “include a lot of selling.” In a Jan. 10 interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box Novogratz said he expects the current debacle facing DCG and its related companies to “play out” over the next quarter. "The outlook for #crypto is not horrible but it's not great. We've got regulatory headwinds we didn't have before. People are going to cut costs and survive this transition period," says @novogratz. "Crypto is not going away. It's a …
Sports merchandise firm Fanatics is divesting its stake in nonfungible token (NFT) company Candy Digital as confidence in the asset class wanes. On Jan. 4, it was reported that Michael Rubin’s sports company Fanatics was offloading its majority 60% stake in the NFT startup. Fanatics was started in 2011 and has become a known name in sports merchandising and e-commerce, valued at $31 billion. However, the crypto bear market has hit the NFT sector hard in 2022, and Rubin’s firm is seemingly now looking to turn away from “standalone” NFT businesses. The investor group led by Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital will …
Galaxy Digital Holdings CEO Mike Novogratz has called the Helios mining deal a “transformative acquisition” for the firm as it works to increase its exposure to the Bitcoin mining sector. The crypto investment firm’s $65 million acquisition of Argo Blockchain’s flagship mining facility was announced on Dec. 28 as part of Argo’s drastic action to stave off bankruptcy. Tweeting about the deal on Dec. 29, Novogratz emphasized that Galaxy is a “strong believer” on the long-term future of Bitcoin (BTC) and the the company will continue to ramp up its mining initiatives: “Bear markets are for building. We’re long-term believers …
Mike Novogratz-led investment firm Galaxy Digital Holdings has won the bidding to buy GK8, an institutional digital asset self-custody platform owned by Celsius Network — pending court approvals and certain closing conditions. According to a Dec. 2 blog post from GK8 and a press release from Galaxy, if the acquisition goes ahead, Galaxy will acquire the platform's nearly 40-strong team as part of the deal including cryptographers and blockchain engineers and the GK8's team office in Tel Aviv. GK8 is a self-custody platform for managing blockchain-based assets which offers custody, staking, DeFi, NFT support, tokenization and trading. The team behind …
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has been lambasted this week following a series of controversial public appearances, with Galaxy Digital’s Mike Novogratz one of the latest to dish out a lashing to the former kingpin of crypto. On Dec. 1, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz unleashed a tirade of criticism towards SBF concerning his interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin at the New York Times annual DealBook Summit on Nov. 30. Speaking to Bloomberg, Novogratz characterized SBF as “delusional” following his declaration in the live interview that he never tried to commit fraud. “It’s kind of surprising that his lawyers …
The next Bitcoin (BTC) bull run will have to be much different from historical cryptocurrency rallies in terms of story and utility, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz believes. Compared to previous bull runs, the next Bitcoin rally will have to be more focused on utility and less on the story, Novogratz predicted at a panel at the Token2049 crypto event on Wednesday. One of the biggest historical rallies, the Bitcoin bull run of 2017, was mostly about the story, the CEO said, referring to the cryptocurrency’s run from about $1,000 to $20,000 within one year. According to Novogratz, the 2017 …
Digital asset custodian BitGo said it planned to seek more than $100 million in damages from Galaxy Digital, alleging the investment firm owed the funds as part of a “reverse break fee” in its decision to terminate an acquisition agreement. In a Monday blog post, BitGo referred to Galaxy’s actions as “improper” in claiming a breach of contract to drop an agreement to acquire the digital asset custodian. BitGo has enlisted the services of law firm Quinn Emanuel to pursue legal action against Galaxy for not paying a “$100 million reverse break fee it had promised back in March 2022.” …
After more than a year of efforts to acquire the digital asset custodian BitGo, Mike Novogratz’s cryptocurrency investment firm Galaxy Digital has decided to drop the acquisition. Galaxy has terminated the BitGo acquisition, citing a breach of contract, the firm officially announced on Monday. According to the statement, Galaxy exercised its right to terminate the deal in line with the acquisition agreement after BitGo failed to deliver audited financial statements for 2021 by July 31, 2022. Galaxy noted that no termination fee is payable in connection with the termination. As previously reported, Galaxy originally announced plans to acquire BitGo in …