Crypto investment bank Galaxy digital loses $134 million in the first quarter of 2018, largely due to the declining cryptocurrency prices. The price of Bitcoin, which touched a record High of $1,955 on December 18th plunged 52 percent in the first three months.
Galaxy digital, chaired by the billionaire investor Michael Novogratz, said that their company had $135 million worth of losses and an additional $85.5 million of unrealized losses on digital assets, on top of around $1 million paper losses on investments.
The eight-month-old Firm also posted $229 million paper losses on investment in its principle investing business. Even though the first quarter of 2018 has been on a financial downside, the company is yet to reveal its outcomes for the 2nd quarter of this year.
The report confirms that Novogratz’s plan to complete a merger with Canadian companies First Coin Capital and Bradmer Pharmaceutical Inc. Galaxy digital is also undergoing a process to have its shares listed on the Canadian stock exchange.
Novogratz aimed to have the deals done by the end of the first quarter, but additional regulatory demands delayed his plans. The Hedge Fund manager has contributed $ 302 million into Crypto assets to build the merchant bank and his home office provided $130 million credit line to Fund operations until the transactions close. As of the end of March, the firm owed $78.8 million under the revolving loan. Outside investors have provided an additional $242 million in capital to the business.
Despite the company’s early losses, its chairman Novogratz stated that he is very proud of the progress that they have made since the beginning of the Year.
He added
We have assembled a world-class team with deep institutional knowledge and expertise and have also made significant strides in scaling our four core business Lines. I have complete confidence in our team’s ability to continue driving growth and believe the company is strategically position to help further institutionalize the digital assets and blockchain Technology industry
Summing up, Galaxy Digital said that it has invested $86.8 million across 11 investments and six add-on acquisitions this year. Those include investments in Crypto assets lending platform BlockFi and AlphaPoint which helps Institutions launch cryptocurrency exchange and Tokenize assets. The future is just as unpredictable for Galaxy Digital at this moment.
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