The historic Witham Abbey building, located just outside Oxford, is on the market for £15 million (about $19 million). Objective: to help creditors of the collapsed crypto exchange FTX.

Effective Ventures bought Wytham Abbey, better known as the “Oxford Castle of Effective Altruism” in April 2022 with grants from Open Philanthropy. Sponsors included the FTX Foundation and personal former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.

Wytham Abbey is listed as a Grade I British Heritage Site, along with Buckingham Palace. The history of the mansion goes back more than 500 years. It was visited by Elizabeth I, Oliver Cromwell and Queen Victoria. In the 21st century, Effective Ventures has used the castle as a venue for summits and conferences for scientists and businessmen to discuss, for example, the risks associated with artificial intelligence.

Even at the acquisition stage, the deal sparked controversy over whether a charity whose stated goal is to use money efficiently to achieve maximum profits has the right to spend funds on the purchase of one of the most expensive mansions in England.

Later, against the backdrop of the bankruptcy of the FTX crypto exchange, accusations of financial ties with the structures of the former head of FTX were added to the claims against the administration of the Effective Ventures Fund. Sam Bankman-Fried was recently found guilty of fraud and sentenced to 25 years in prison in the United States.

In response to the claims, Effective Ventures decided to pay off the debts of the FTX Foundation with property, returning through the sale of Wytham Abbey to investors of the FTX exchange the funds lost due to the collapse of the trading platform.

Earlier, the interim administration of the bankrupt FTX proposed a new compensation plan for investors. According to the FTX liquidation commission proposal, 98% of creditors could receive compensation of up to 118% of their original funds.