As cryptocurrencies have come to the mainstream and gained exposure and popularity, the need for crypto exchanges has grown simultaneously. Cryptocurrency exchange FTX .COM is fairly new to the market, but since its inception in May 2019 by Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang, it has grown at a staggering pace. In fact, as of July 2021, it was averaging $10 billion in daily trading volume and has over a million users. It clocked a growth of 60% in its total user base since October.
And thanks to all those massive numbers, now its parent company FTX Trading Ltd. has scooped up $400 million in its Series C funding round. With this, the juggernaut is valued at a ginormous $32 billion, just 4 months after another mega fundraise that happened in October last year.
The Series C funding round included participation from Temasek, Paradigm, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Lightspeed Venture Partners, NEA, Steadview Capital, Tiger Global, Insight Partners, and others. As part of the deal, they joined the cap table of FTX.US.
This comes less than four months after it was valued at $25 billion (and mere days after its US affiliate was valued at $8 billion). This is its third fundraiser in the last six months. So you see, it has not been idle in recent times.
It seems that the proceeds from the round will be deployed towards developing new products and funding the mergers and acquisitions that FTX has been eyeing for quite some time. It is planning global expansion this year and will look to continue to interact with regulators to facilitate access to digital assets in a safe and compliant manner.
The Bahamas-based FTX has already spent nearly 1 billion on recent acquisitions. Some of its recent acquisitions include Blockfolio, which will help expand its retail user base, and LedgerX (now known as FTX US Derivatives), a crypto derivatives platform.
“Our Series C financing round represents a milestone achievement for FTX, as we raised close to $2 billion in six months. This round will support our continued mission of delivering innovative products and services to the marketplace as well as expanding our global reach with additional licenses around the world,” said FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.
A cryptocurrency exchange built by traders and for traders, FTX offers innovative products including industry-first derivatives, options, volatility products and NFTs. Now, it will license its software to businesses in the fintech and gaming spheres. Since October 2021, it has become the third-largest crypto exchange in the world and the largest exchange outside of China.
“We see ourselves as the backbone of all assets,” Bankman-Fried said. “Become the one-stop, mobile, wallet system.” Recently, it launched a $2 billion crypto-focused venture capital fund. The fund will be investing in cryptocurrency startups across the world and in all stages, broadly focussing on the social, gaming, fintech, software, and healthcare industries.
