Bankrupt Crypto Hedge Fund (3AC) Makes Surprise NFT Purchase After Three-Year Bid Oversight by Liquidators

The
wallet,
linked
to
the
now-bankrupt
Three
Arrows
Capital
(3AC),
recently
made
an
unexpected
NFT
purchase.
This
seemingly
out-of-the-blue
transaction
resulted
from
a
bid
placed
three
years
ago
that
went
unnoticed
—
or
perhaps
not
“seen
as
retrievable”
at
the
time
—
by
the
liquidators
handling
3AC’s
bankruptcy.

The
Missed
Bid

According
to
NFT
marketplace
SuperRare,
the
forgotten
bid
was
for
an
NFT
from
the
“Ninja
Village”
collection
by
the
artist
SeerLight
that
was
discreetly
submitted
on
Aug.
21,
2021,
by
3AC
wallet,
a
year
prior
to
filing
a
Chapter
15
bankruptcy
in
July
2022.
However,
due
to
an
oversight
by
Teneo—the
company
handling
3AC’s
bankruptcy
proceedings—the
bid
remained
dormant
until
now.

3AC,
on
Friday,
secured
the
NFT
for
20
ETH
(roughly
$58,800
at
current)
from
its
previous
anonymous
owner,
“@anonymoux.”
This
owner
had
bought
it
for
100
ETH
(around
$348,700
at
that
time)
in
October
2021.
This
information
was
found
on
SuperRare
and
equally
confirmed
by
Etherscan,
a
blockchain
explorer.

Additionally,
on-chain
analytics
platform
Arkham
Intel
identified
the
address
used
for
the
purchase
as
belonging
to
3AC,
which
was
first
spotted
by
a
community
member
named
“@0xBriann,”
per
TheBlock’s
report. 

Jean-Michel
Pailhon
of
Grail
Capital
CIO
and
former
Ledger
executive
replying
@0xBriann
on
X
said
the
ETH
used
by
3AC
to
place
the
bid
was
not
“seen
in
the
liquidation
process
as
retrievable
assets.”

3AC’s
Bankruptcy
Ordeal

Three
Arrows
Capital,
a
once-thriving
Singaporean
cryptocurrency
hedge
fund,
is
currently
navigating
through
a
bankruptcy
file.
At
its
zenith,
3AC
managed
assets
worth
an
estimated
$10
billion.
However,
the
relentless
bear
market
in
cryptocurrencies
took
a
toll
owing
to
Terra’s
ecosystem
collapse
in
May
of
that
same
year,
leaving
the
firm
with
a
debt
of
around
$3.5
billion
to
its
creditors.

Post-bankruptcy
filing,
the
NFT
auction
of
3AC’s
collection
fetched
$2.5
million.
Among
the
pieces
sold,
the
highest
sale
was
for
Tyler
Hobbs’
Fidenza
#725,
which
went
for
a
cool
$1
million.
The
funds
raised
from
the
auction
will
likely
go
towards
settling
the
firm’s
substantial
debts.

Kyle
Davies,
co-founder
of
3AC,
reacted
to
the
auction
results
on
Twitter,
indicating
that
the
portfolio
was
“on
fire.”
His
fellow
co-founder,
Su
Zhu,
quoted
English
poet
Alfred
Tennyson
in
response
to
the
sale,
suggesting
a
sense
of
loss.
3AC’s
co-founders
Kyle
Davies
and
Su
Zhu
have
been
on
the
Singaporean
government’s
radar
ever
since,
with
Zhu
arrested
and
detained
for
over
three
months
in
September
last
year
for
failing
to
cooperate
with
investigations
related
to
3AC’s
liquidation,
while
Davies
remained
at
large
from
the
city-state.