FTX Trading lands $25 billion valuation after $450 million investment
FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, said on Thursday its valuation had risen to $25 billion after a $450 million funding round that included a clutch of heavyweights from traditional finance.
The round saw participation from more than 69 investors, including Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, Temasek and Tiger Global.
The latest funding comes as investor sentiment towards cryptocurrencies has somewhat soured after the first ever Bitcoin ETF debuted on the New York Stock Exchange. Bitcoin price also reached yet another all-time high on Wednesday.
FTX Trading, which launched in 2019, has raised in July $900 million in a Series B fundraise, which was the largest ever for a crypto exchange. Since then, the company says it has grown its user base by nearly 50 percent while its average trade volume increased 75 percent, now averaging $14 billion per day.
The company used the bulk of the funds for mergers and acquisitions. Specifically, the exchange’s US-affiliate, FTX US, acquired CFTC-regulated crypto derivatives exchange and clearinghouse, LedgerX.
FTX established its new headquarters in the Bahamas and secured licenses under new regulatory frameworks in the Bahamas and Gibraltar. The expansion effort also included the roll out of its own NFT marketplace, FTX NFTs. With revenue surging more than tenfold this year, these millstones place FTX.COM in a prime position to grow into one of the world’s leading crypto exchanges.
Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX, commented on the news, “We founded FTX two years ago with the idea of creating a better financial marketplace. Today we are focused on establishing FTX as a trustworthy and innovative exchange by regularly engaging with regulators around the world, and constantly seeking opportunities to enhance our offerings for digital asset investors.”
“For this round, we capitalized on those strides and were able to partner with investors that prioritize positioning FTX as the world’s most transparent and compliant cryptocurrency exchange,” he added.
The 30-year-old billionaire has been spending lavishly lately to raise the awareness of FTX brand worldwide. The exchange, which also counts celebrity couple Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen among its backers, signed a multimillion-dollar sponsorship deal with the National Basketball Association’s Miami Heat.
With fresh capital in hand, FTX plans to utilize the new injection to expand into new jurisdictions, improve upon its current offerings, and further establish itself as a marketplace leader.
“The additional capital and group of investors will let us provide the experience our users deserve and address other adjacent market opportunities including equities, prediction markets, NFTs and videogame partnerships. We expect to make strategic investments designed to grow the business and expand our regulatory coverage.” said Ramnik Arora, Head of Product at FTX.
