Bitcoin Bull Mike Novogratz’s Trading Desk Loses $41M Last Quarter
Bloomberg has revealed that Mike Novogratz’s cryptocurrency trading desk lost $41M in the third quarter of 2018.
After Bitcoin dropped below $5k for the first time this year, retail traders and institutions alike are feeling the pain from the enormous downward moves. Bloomberg reported the fair value of Galaxy’s digital assets currently stands at $91M. Considering the net cost of these assets is $173M, the firm’s holdings are down 47%.
As shown in their company filings, Galaxy Digital Holdings LP’s trading desk had Q3 net realized and unrealized losses at about $41M – equating to a loss of $136M in the first three quarters of 2018.
According to Galaxy Digital, these losses came from “losing bets on Ether, Bitcoin, and XRP.” Because Novogratz’s investment firm is part-owned by the publicly traded Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd., he’s required by law to publish detailed financial statements.
Galaxy Digital explain that their “poor third-quarter trading results [are] in part on tepid trading volumes and increased competition for arbitrage opportunities.” They further wrote that: “while we continue to improve and strengthen our trading business, lack of overall trading volume in cryptocurrencies has been a headwind.”
Galaxy Digital’s shares have tumbled 55% this month, as confidence in the cryptocurrency market continues to dwindle.
Galaxy Digital
Novogratz, former partner at Goldman Sachs, has been one of the most vocal bulls in the cryptocurrency space. Launched in 2007, well before cryptocurrencies existed, Galaxy Digital calls themselves “the bridge between the crypto and the institutional worlds,” and is tradeable on the Toronto Stock Exchange. In September of this year, when Bitcoin was trading around $6,400, Novogratz tweeted that he thought the bottom was in:
Michael Novogratz✔@novogratz
This is the BGCI chart…I think we put in a low yesterday. retouched the highs of late last year and the point of acceleration that led to the massive rally/bubble… markets like to retrace to the breakout..we retraced the whole of the bubble. #callingabottom
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