The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan has acknowledged that it invested $95 million U.S. (Cdn $126 million) into cryptocurrency exchange FTX that is now on the brink of insolvency.
Rival crypto exchange Binance pulled out of a deal to purchase FTX due to significant accounting issues, sending cryptocurrency prices plummeting worldwide, with the price of Bitcoin (BTC) hitting a two-year low near $16,000 U.S.
FTX is also being investigated for potential securities violations by American regulators.
San Bankman-Fried, the head of FTX, has warned that his crypto exchange is on the brink of collapse and will likely file for bankruptcy unless it can secure $8 billion U.S. in emergency funding.
The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan says it invested in FTX's international and U.S. arms through its “Teachers' Venture Growth” platform so that it could gain exposure to the emerging cryptocurrency sector.
The pension plan said any financial losses on its investment in FTX will have limited impact as the investment represents less than 0.05% of its net assets.
The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan had total net assets of $242.5 billion as of June 30, 2022.
