Crypto Market Movers
By Bruce Buterin
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From $225 Million to $45 Billion — Then the Floor Fell Out. Aschenbrenner launched Situational Awareness in 2024 with $225 million.
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Flex Options and the New Risk Playbook. After the July collapse, Situational Awareness shifted strategy.
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Leopold Aschenbrenner can't catch a break. Less than two months after Situational Awareness suffered what's been called one of the largest dollar losses in hedge fund history,…
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The trades in question were placed between September 2 and 10. Situational Awareness bought options tied to AMD, Bloom Energy, CoreWeave, SK Hynix, SanDisk, and the Roundhill…
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Aschenbrenner launched Situational Awareness in 2024 with $225 million. The fund's pitch was pretty straightforward: go long on AI stocks with heavy leverage — up to 400% — and…
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Then July happened. AI stocks dropped sharply, and the leverage that had powered the fund's rise turned into a wrecking ball. Margin calls hit. Forced sales followed.
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It's hard to overstate how fast things unraveled.
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After the July collapse, Situational Awareness shifted strategy. Out went the high-leverage approach.
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See also: Ethereum Trapped Below $2,550 as Market Struggles with ETF Outflows
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On paper, it's a more conservative posture. And in a stable or rising market, flex options make sense for a fund trying to rebuild credibility with investors.
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Whether the timing was just bad luck or a sign of something deeper in the fund's market reads — unclear. Aschenbrenner hasn't said publicly.
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The move to Clear Street as prime broker is probably the most telling structural change. JPMorgan cutting off leverage financing wasn't a small thing — it was a signal about how…
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What's interesting is that Aschenbrenner hasn't walked away from the AI thesis. He's still putting money to work in AMD, in CoreWeave, in memory-adjacent plays like SanDisk and…
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Related: Cyprus Bank Freeze Fuels Bitcoin Surge in New Documentary
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That thesis isn't crazy. It's probably right over a multi-year horizon. But AI stocks can be brutal in the short run, especially when a single viral essay from a well-known CEO…
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