FTX's Bankman-Fried Gave Ex-Jane Street Traders Who Formed Modulo Capital $400M

When a spreadsheet listing Sam Bankman-Fried's venture investments was published by the Financial Times earlier this month, a couple of lines stood out. They showed the former cryptocurrency kingmaker's hedge fund, Alameda Research, had invested a total of $400 million into a company called Modulo Capital.Though this amounted to one of Bankman-Fried's largest venture capital bets, Modulo's identity was a mystery, giving rise to plenty of speculation. Was it a Brazilian fund manager with a nearly identical name (besides an accent mark over the first letter O)?No. Bankman-Fried was known to hire former Jane Street employees as executives or employees, including former FTX US President Brett Harrison.Also, public filings show Modulo was based in the Bahamas and operated from Albany, the same luxury condominium complex where Bankman-Fried and other FTX and Alameda employees resided.Modulo traded crypto as well as traditional financial assets, two people familiar with the matter said. Modulo approached several traditional financial institutions for funding before taking on Alameda as its sole investor, one of the people added. 'It didn't strike me as that crazy. Sam liked to throw money at things that were positive [expected value] and ex-Jane Street people seem relatively positive EV,' the person told CoinDesk. 'It was better than some of the trash Alameda was throwing money at. 'Alameda's investments are under heavy scrutiny as creditors await repayment from a grueling bankruptcy process involving the company and its sibling, FTX, a crypto exchange.