The much-criticized co-founder of the bankrupt crypto hedge fund thinks of himself as the crypto analogue to the former Goldman Sachs CEO.
Davies and co-founder Su Zhu started 3AC in 2012, turning a million dollars into what they claimed was several billion dollars at its peak.
(Kyle Davies)
Posted March 19, 2024 at 12:14 pm EST.
Three Arrows Capital co-founder claims he was one of the most highly-regarded figures in crypto before their hedge fund imploded in 2022, comparing himself to Goldman Sachs’ legendary CEO and chairman from 2006-2018, Lloyd Blankfein.
“Do you disagree? Am I not the Lloyd Blankfein of crypto in 2022?” he asked host Laura Shin on the latest episode of the Unchained podcast, in explaining why he thinks he was worth a $25,000-a-month fee for consulting to OPNX, a trading platform for distressed crypto debt that was started following 3AC’s collapse. Davies’ 3AC co-founder Su Zhu was also paid the same for advising the venture, which eventually folded.
Read more: 3AC Founders’ New Crypto Exchange OPNX to Shut Down
Davies also noted that he was a billionaire before 3AC imploded and used to make a lot more than $25,000 a month.
Davies’ Dealings With 3AC’s Liquidator
In the same interview, Davies denied what 3AC’s liquidator, Teneo, alleges: that the two cofounders have not been cooperating with liquidation proceedings. “The idea that we are not in contact or not cooperating with them is posturing. We absolutely have, we just had a meeting with them.”
Asked to explain why, if he and Zhu were in close contact with Teneo, a Singporean court sentenced the two to four months in prison each for what he called was “missing a court date,” he responded, “It’s kind of our lawyer’s job to tell us about this kind of stuff. … No one’s paying me. This is not my job.”
Considering that his lawyers’ negligence resulted in him and Zhu receiving a four-month prison sentence, Shin asked him whether the 3AC cofounders had fired them. “Maybe we should. I dunno,” he said.
He then noted that a four-month prison sentence is especially long for missing a court date. When asked why the court imposed such a long prison sentence for what he says is typically a minor infraction, he said, “I have no idea.”
He added that the fact that Zhu was arrested and served his sentence was “a bit of a problem.” When asked for whom it was a problem, he said, “It was a problem for the liquidator because they wanted to examine him and they had to wait … so this set the liquidator back probably three months, my guess.”
Davies and Zhu started Three Arrows Capital in 2012 as an arbitrage hedge fund and turned a million dollars into what they claimed was anywhere from $5 billion to $10 billion at its height.
After several bets went south, including a trade involving the premium on shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust that later became a discount, as well as the crash of Terra Luna, 3AC eventually had to declare bankruptcy, owing $3 billion to its creditors.
