Auros Overcomes FTX Implosion with $17M in New Funding

The crypto market-making company, Auros digital affected by the FTX implosion has secured $17 million in a new funding round. The company said it plans to inject some of the funds to scale its Derivatives Solutions business.

Auros announced on Twitter that the funding was led by the trading firm, VivCourt alongside participation from Bitcoin company, BitDigital. Other notable investors include Trovio, Epoch Capital, Primal Capital, and a group of Optiver senior alumni.

The fundraising, according to Auros, is a part of the company’s current restructuring plan to ensure that it is prepared to seize fresh growth prospects this year and in the future. Additionally, Auros established that it would collaborate with VivCourt and BitDigital in order to generate synergies across all three businesses. 

As per the partnership, VivCourt’s investments will see the firm having exposure to digital assets trading. On the other hand, BitDigital will serve both as a customer and a strategic partner to Auros’ new derivatives solutions business. Also, Auros will help BitDigital hedge on forward production and earn high yields on its holdings by creating options structures.

Auros Exposed to FTX Contagion

Market-making firm, Auros play an important role by bringing liquidity to crypto markets through the purchase and sale of assets, which helps to stabilize prices and makes it easier for traders to buy and sell assets. According to the firm, Auros was one of the top 10-15 digital asset market makers before the collapse of FTX.

The company ran into liquidity issues in November when some $20 million of its digital assets were trapped on the now-defunct FTX. The company’s financial troubles were also heightened when it missed the repayments of some $18 million Decentralized Finance (DeFi) loans.

Auros eventually announced that it was filing for bankruptcy protection as a result of these financial exposures. The firm stated at the time that it was funded by loans and financial arrangements from several lending organizations. As it became clear that the business couldn’t handle such transactions anymore, Auros asked the court for an order of liquidation.

Notably, Auros is just one of the companies impacted by FTX’s demise. BlockFi, and Genesis Global Trading, amongst others, are also affected.