Backed by AGE Crypto and Alphabit, crypto wealth management platform Yield App has announced its shutdown following losses linked to the collapse of FTX.
Yield App appears to be the latest crypto firm to fall victim to the fallout from the FTX collapse, announcing in a Jun. 28 post on X the closure of “all activity” as it “prepares to enter liquidation proceedings.”
Founded in 2020 by Tim Frost, Justin Wright, Jan Strandberg, and Jason Corbett, Yield App marketed itself as a “one-stop crypto wealth platform where you can earn interest, buy, and swap between your cryptocurrency assets.” Now, the firm is trying to get its funds stuck on the FTX crypto exchange.
“Yield App asks for the patience of its valued customers as it works with its advisors, with whom it jointly commits to releasing further information, including detailed FAQs, at the earliest possible date.”
Yield App
In the X post, Yield App attributed the decision to “portfolio losses incurred through third-party hedge fund managers that held Yield App assets in custody on the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, and who are subject to ongoing litigation.”
Although the firm didn’t disclose the name of the hedge fund, earlier reports suggested that Yield App’s funds might be trapped on FTX due to “criminal” mismanagement by Swiss hedge fund Tyr Capital Partners.
Tyr allegedly ignored internal risk limits and investor warnings regarding its exposure to FTX. While Yield App wasn’t a direct client of Tyr, it was a client of TGT, a fund whose directors included Yield App co-founders Wright and Corbett, which had invested with Tyr on Yield App’s behalf.
FTX collapsed in November 2022 amid allegations of embezzlement and misappropriation of billions of dollars in customer funds involving its owners and affiliated hedge fund Alameda Research. Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the exchange, was sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to reimburse $11 billion.
