Cryptocurrency lender Nexo had proposed to acquire rival BlockFi for about $850M in July, when the latter was struggling to stay afloat in the face of an industry-wide downturn, The Block reported Thursday, citing an investment proposal document. BlockFi was said to have turned down Nexo's offer and moved forward to be bailed out by FTX US, which filed for Chapter 11 last week. FTX US's offer was worth some $680M but the deal never went through . Note that BlockFi suffered deep losses during the summer given its exposure to bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital. The Nexo deal included $30M for the acquisition of 51% of BlockFi, $30M for BlockFi's existing stakeholders upon the S1 registration of its yield product, and a $500M credit line to handle the company's liquidity issue, The Block noted. It was "a better alternative to the FTX proposal," Nexo co-founder Antoni Trenchev told The Block, "but BlockFi's management chose to go with FTX." The remaining 49% stake was worth about $288M. The troubled lender's downfall has accelerated since the summer given its deep ties to Alameda Research, a trading firm that was part of Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto empire that recently fell apart. In fact, "Alameda was BlockFi's largest debtor," Trenchev added. BlockFi was then forced to pause customer withdrawals last week and more recently eyed bankruptcy protection . Neither BlockFi nor Nexo immediately responded to Seeking Alpha's request for comment. Previously, (June 21) BlockFi secured a $250M credit line from FTX .
