Novogratz’s Crypto Firm Posted $272.7 Million Loss in 2018

(Bloomberg) -- Galaxy Digital Holding Ltd., billionaire Michael Novogratz’s crypto investment firm, lost $272.7 million during its first year of operations as prices of digital assets collapsed.

Galaxy had $249.1 million in digital assets and investments as of Dec. 31, down from $323 million at the end of September, the New York-based company said in a statement Monday. The fourth-quarter decrease was primarily a result of $48.7 million of net realized losses on digital assets and $25.0 million of unrealized loss on investments.

"While 2018 was a challenging year for the industry, I am pleased with the ways in which our team navigated difficult market dynamics, and believe we are well positioned to scale our business strategically over time," Novogratz said in the release. "The first few months of 2019 have yielded a notable increase in activity across our business lines."

• In the fourth quarter, the company closed on eight new investments and added more money to three startups it had previously invested in, including BitGo Holdings and Bakkt Holdings LLC.
• In aggregate, Galaxy Digital deployed about $133 million in 2018.
• Since the start of 2019, the Galaxy Benchmark Crypto Index Fund, a passively managed index fund which tracks the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index, has been generating inflows. The index has returned about 19 percent this year.
• Galaxy currently has no exposure to Bitfinex or Tether.

To contact the reporter on this story: Olga Kharif in Portland at okharif@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeremy Herron at jherron8@bloomberg.net, Dave Liedtka, Randall Jensen

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