Novogratz’ Galaxy Digital Continues Losing Streak in 2019, Posts $33M Q4 Loss

Galaxy Digital, a major cryptocurrency investment bank founded by ex-Goldman Sachs partner, Mike Novogratz, continued its 2018 trend by posting another net loss in Q4 of 2019.

According to an official April 8 announcement, the company suffered a net loss of more than $32.9 million in Q4, with the company outlining “realized loss on digital assets” and operating expenses as causes for the loss.

Galaxy Digital has posted repetitive losses since its founding in 2018

Galaxy Digital was officially founded in early 2018 with the mission to institutionalize the crypto industry. Since then, the company has struggled to stay afloat, posting near-constant losses each quarter. Following a major market downturn in early 2018, Galaxy Digital debuted its business with some significant losses, posting a $134 million loss in Q1 2018.

While yearly 2018 losses reportedly accounted for more than $272 million, Galaxy Digital didn’t stop losing in 2019. As reported, the crypto bank’s net loss in Q3 2019 amounted to $68.2M.

Q4 2019 saw some improvement though

The latest reported quarterly loss still saw some notable improvement, down from around $68 million to nearly $33 million. In the announcement, Galaxy Digital emphasized that while 2019 losses were largely a result of realized gains and partially offset by operating expenses, the net comprehensive loss in 2018 was “primarily a result of unrealized and realized loss on digital assets.”

Coronavirus-fueled market crash has not really impacted Galaxy Digital so far

Galaxy Digital has also touched briefly upon how they’re doing this year. Although the company has not revealed any numbers for Q1 2020, the report notes that Galaxy Digital “has not been uniquely impacted by Covid-19” and entered 2020 with “significant operational momentum in our three operating businesses.”

The company wrote:

“For the safety and wellbeing of our employees, the Company has implemented our business continuity plans, including remote work arrangements. Nonetheless, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused global economic uncertainty and is likely to impact the Company's investments and business activities in the coming months, with offsetting potential benefits to the Company from increased volatility and expansive global monetary and fiscal policy.”

According to some reports, Galaxy Digital cut its workforce by at least 15% in 2020 amid the repetitive net losses.

Firm apparently hopes to finally post some profits

In an April 8 Q4 earnings call, CEO Mike Novogratz reportedly expressed confidence that the Black Thursday market crash in mid-March does not invalidate Bitcoin’s (BTC) underlying usefulness. Novogratz has been similarly bullish to Bitcoin in previous years. He predicted that Bitcoin would surge to $20,000 or more in 2019. This prediction turned out to be an overestimation, with the coin rising only to around $13,000 during 2019.

However, Cointelegraph recently reported that Novogratz admitted that he might “hang his spurs” if Bitcoin does not retest its all time high of $20,000 before the end of 2020.