FTX, a major cryptocurrency exchange and crypto futures trading platform, has raised $900 million in a new funding round.
Funding Round Attracts Top Investors
The Series B funding round brought in money from over 60 investors including SoftBank Group Corp, Sequoia, Thoma Bravo Ribbit Capital, and VanEck. Two crypto exchange funds, Coinbase Ventures and Circle, also participated in the fundraiser.
The newly-added funds put FTX’s valuation at $18 billion. Its press release notes that it has seen “tremendous growth” since its launch in May 2019, with revenue growing by a factor of 75 since its 2020 Series A funding round and a factor of ten this year alone.
The firm noted that this is the largest fundraiser in crypto exchange history. Other large fundraisers include Circle’s $440 million round in May 2021 and BlockFi’s $350 million round in March 2021.
FTX Will Use Funds to Expand
FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried commented that he is “incredibly humbled by the support we’ve gotten.” He added that FTX has formed a “hugely valuable set of partners” and that the new funds will help the firm “build out a bigger and broader vision.”
The exchange says that it will use its newly raised funds to expand its product line, grow its user base, make strategic investments, and expand partnerships. In particular, it plans to expand partnerships for its Pay, Liquidity, and NFT product lines.
FTX is currently a top-five exchange, with a daily volume of $1.1 billion. It has recently gone mainstream with branding deals; notably, it has gained naming rights to the former American Airlines Arena and added its name to a major e-sports league.
Disclaimer: At the time of writing this author held less than $75 of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and altcoins.
