The Ftx Cryptocurrency Exchange Has Officially Closed Its Series B Investment Round At $ 900 Million, According To The Block .
A Total Of 60 Investors Supported The Exchange, Including Softbank, Sequoia Capital, Paradigm, Lightspeed, Third Point, Alan Howard, Israel Englander And Paul Tudor Jones. According To The Firm’s Own Statement, Its Valuation After That Amounted To $ 18 Billion.thus, The Title Of The Company That Held The Largest Venture Investment Round In The Cryptocurrency Industry Goes To Ftx, Surpassing The Record Of Circle, Which Raised $ 440 Million Earlier This Year.
In May, It Became Known That Ftx Could Raise Up To $ 1 Billion. Ftx Earns From Trading Commissions From Cryptocurrency Exchanges And Is Expanding Into Other Areas, Including Stock Trading Through Derivatives Contracts. The Exchange Was Launched In May 2019 And Is One Of The Youngest In Its Space. With An Average Daily Trading Volume Of Over $ 10 Billion On Ftx, The Company’s Revenue Has Increased 10-fold This Year And 75-fold Since The Serie A Round In Mid-2020, Forbes Writes .
“Ultimately, I’m quite happy with the result,” said FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. – It took a while to reveal the vision of the company to some of these investors, initially not related to the cryptocurrency industry. But the commercial model is pretty simple. ”
The Exchange Expects To Use The New Financing To Develop The Licensing Of Its Own Software, Which Is Popular On Wall Street And New For Itself. Bankman-fried Said That They Are Already Negotiating With Potential Clients Interested In Cooperation On The White Label Model.
“whether It’s A Neobank Looking To Offer Crypto Trading Or A Payment Portal, Everything We Have Will Be Available Through The Api,” He Added.
Ftx Has Previously Struck Several Deals To Promote Its Brand, Including With Major League Baseball And Esports Team Tsm. It Will Also Use The Funding It Receives To Strengthen Such Agreements. Bankman-fried Said It Is Not Yet Clear How They Affect Its Bottom Line, But “50% Of The Time People Learn About Ftx” From Them.
“the Primary Goal Of Fundraising Was To Find Strategic Partners To Help Develop The Ftx Brand, But The Capital Itself Will Be Used Primarily For Acquisitions,” He Said.
It Is Noteworthy That The Binance Exchange Did Not Participate In The Latest Ftx Investment Round, Although It Provided It With Strategic Investments For An Unnamed Amount In December 2019. Binance Ceo Changpeng Zhao Said They Recently Liquidated Their Stake In Ftx.
“We have seen their tremendous growth and are very happy for them, but we are completely out,” Zhao said, calling it “a normal investment cycle,” and emphasizing the continued friendly relationship between the companies.
According To Forbes, Bankman-fried’s Fortune, Which Was Estimated At $ 8.3 Billion Last Month, Will Grow By At Least $ 7.9 Billion To $ 16.2 Billion As A Result Of The Latest Deal, Which Will Allow Him To Consolidate His Status As The Richest Participant In The Crypto Industry. The Further Fate Of His Fortune Will Depend On The Success Of Ftx And The Crypto Market In General, Since The Founder Controls A 58% Stake In The Company.
