REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
- George Soros' family office revealed it's betting against crypto-friendly bank Silvergate.
- The fund held put options on 100,000 shares of Silvergate, worth $1.74 million as of December 31, according to a 13F filing.
- Silvergate has come under pressure for its linkages to collapsed crypto exchange FTX.
George Soros' family office revealed it's betting against Silvergate Capital as the crypto-friendly bank comes under fire for its ties to FTX.
Soros Fund Management bought put options on 100,000 shares of Silvergate, worth $1.74 million as of December 31, according to a 13F filing.
Those who purchase put options are essentially betting that the stock's price will fall. The contracts become more valuable when the underlying stock's price falls and turn cheaper when the share's price rises.
It's worth emphasizing that Soros' fund may have closed it position in the past six weeks, and investors sometimes use put options to hedge their portfolios. Moreover, quarterly portfolio updates don't always paint a full picture of a fund's holdings, as they exclude overseas-listed stocks, bets on private companies, and non-stock assets such as cash, bonds and cryptocurrencies.
The fund's position in put options suggests investors are losing faith in Silvergate. This month, the Department of Justice's fraud unit launched a probe against the bank for its linkages with collapsed crypto exchange FTX and its trading arm Alameda Research. It's also facing pressure from US lawmakers over what it knew about the happenings at FTX.
Among the fund's other purchases was Tesla stock. It snapped up 42,000 shares in the EV maker last quarter, upping its stake by 47% to around 132,000 shares.