One of the world’s leading global cryptocurrency exchanges, FTX, which is headed by top crypto billionaire, Sam Bankman-Fried, with a net worth of 22.5 billion according to Forbes, has raised a total of $420.69 million in a Series B-1 funding round, which puts the company’s valuation at $25 billion.
This news comes months after the firm raised more than $900 million in a Series B round that at the time, put the company’s value at $18 billion, a 38.89% increase compared to the current valuation.
Investors across the crypto market have been pouring into private companies, boosting valuations beyond unicorn status for firms like FalconX, TradingView, and OpenSea. According to the announcement, FTX raised this fund from 69 investors including Tiger Global, Ribbit Capital, and “funds and accounts managed by BlackRock.” Other participants include Lightspeed Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Sea Capital.
The company also announced that the Singapore government-owned investment giant Temasek participated in its Series B. Sam Bankman-Fried still remains a majority owner of the firm.
Bankman-Fried said that new investors decided to join its cap table because of its recent growth. Open interest in FTX’s Bitcoin futures market soared to nearly $4 billion since May, when open interest stood at around $1 billion. Still, rival Binance saw futures open interest hit nearly $5.5 billion this week. Meanwhile, FTX only accounts for about 37% of Coinbase’s volumes in spot crypto trading, according to data from The Block’s Data Dashboard.
FTX will see this new injection as a way to build on its already expanding brand name. The firm recently launched an NFT marketplace and has integrated Solana based NFTs on its platform. Asides from this, the firm acquired LedgerX, a futures trading platform regulated by the United States’ CFTC for an undisclosed amount.
What they are saying
Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX, commented on the news stating, “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.”
Ramnik Arora, Head of Product at FTX stated, “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.”
Olivia Steedman, Senior Managing Director at Teachers’ Innovation Platform (TIP) stated, “Teachers’ Innovation Platform (TIP) invests in innovative companies that use technology to help shape new categories. As a global, technology-driven innovator in the financial sector, FTX fits well with our mandate. We look forward to working with FTX’s management team in supporting the continued growth of the company.”
Conclusion
The company raised a total of $420,690,000 from 69 investors in its latest round, with the numbers “420” and “69″ being an obvious nod to meme culture. The global exchange also announced earlier in the week that it bought and burned $6.1 million worth of FTT, FTX’s native token.
FTT now trades at $65.84, up 1% as of the time of this writing. The token hit an all-time high six weeks ago, trading at $85 per token.
