SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci said investments in Bitcoin, technology and other cryptocurrencies probably resulted in the best monthly returns ever for the hedge fund company. “We’re on a good roll now,” Scaramucci said during an interview on Bloomberg TV on Tuesday. “The month of October has probably been the best month in SkyBridge’s history.”
SkyBridge had taken a reputational hit because of its alliance with former crypto exchange FTX chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried, who is on trial in New York for fraud and misuse of FTX customer money. “It’s very sad,” Scaramucci said. Bankman-Fried had “absolutely no defense.” In regard to October’s fund performance, Scaramucci said “a lot of that is Bitcoin, some of it is tech and some of it is newer economy things that have rebounded aggressively since the beginning of the year.”
“But, of course, Bitcoin has had a spectacular month. We own a lot of Solana. I think Solana is probably up by 70% this month,” he said. “This is just another explanation to people, stay in things, stay convicted, don’t listen to the chain music throughout the day but have a very long-term focus on what you are doing.”
FTX’s venture arm acquired a 30% stake in SkyBridge last September, just a few months before the exchange went bankrupt, causing its customers to lose billions of dollars. During the lead-up to that implosion, Scaramucci tapped into his network in the Middle East in an attempt to help Bankman-Fried raise capital and save FTX from a liquidity crisis. Scaramucci has said he plans to buy back the stake from FTX but that process has to go through the bankruptcy court.
Skybridge took a big bet on crypto about three years ago. It has gained more exposure through direct token acquisitions and private investment in digital-asset firms. Despite the fall of FTX and a plunge in the crypto market, Scaramucci remains confident. He continues to advocate for crypto even as some of its biggest clients wanted to redeem their shares in the hedge fund and reduce their exposure to the nascent asset class.
“We never sold any Bitcoin, in fact if anything we accumulated Bitcoin this year at lower prices and it has served us and our clients well,” he said. Scaramucci rose to fame as he started the hedge fund confab SkyBridge Alternatives Conference, or SALT. He worked as former President Donald Trump’s communications director for 11 days.
