Star Atlas cash runway sliced in half by FTX catastrophe

Solana-based gaming metaverse Star Atlas saw its cash runway cut in half after the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, its CEO said on Twitter.

Star Atlas is the latest crypto company to be affected by the shocking collapse of the Bahamas-based crypto behemoth. 

ATMTA, the Star Atlas development studio, had “material cash exposure” on deposit at FTX, according to CEO Michael Wagner. Despite the turmoil, the company still has a “strong balance sheet,” he said.

“While previously we had multiple years of runway given current operations ahead of us, that has presently been reduced by approximately one-half,” Wagner said. He hosted a Discord town hall on Friday evening to discuss the news. 

Wagner apologized to Star Atlas employees and users, saying his “trust has been betrayed” by FTX. The company did not say how much cash it lost in the FTX collapse. 

“I believed this liquid cash position to be custodied with a reliable and trustworthy institution. I put my confidence and trust into an individual I believed to be a stalwart of the industry,” Wagner said. “Clearly that trust has been betrayed. Poor timing, and a failure to have sufficient backup measures in place to respond expeditiously to situations such as this resulted in a compromised position. That is on me, and for that, I am sorry.”