FTX Trading secures $400m Series C funding at $32bn valuation
FTX Trading, owner and operator of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.com, has closed a $400 million Series C round, valuing the company at $32 billion.
FTX Trading has now raised $1.8 billion to date
The round saw participation from Temasek, Paradigm, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, NEA, IVP, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Steadview Capital, Tiger Global and Insight Partners, among others.
It follows a $900 million Series B in July last year, which valued the firm at $18 billion. FTX Trading has now raised $1.8 billion to date.
The exchange now claims to be the third-largest crypto exchange in the world and the largest exchange outside of China.
FTX Trading CEO Sam Bankman-Fried says the financing round will help support the exchange’s global expansion with additional licenses around the world.
Bankman-Fried adds FTX “will look to continue interacting with regulators to facilitate access to digital assets in a safe and compliant manner”.
The US arm of the crypto exchange, FTX US, also landed $400 million in funding last week in its own Series A round, valuing the company at $8 billion. All investors from FTX Trading’s Series C participated in the FTX US Series A.
FTX US says the cash will support its already turbocharged growth, expand its US footprint and cement its position as the largest crypto exchange in the country. Money will also pour into growing its user base, bolstering its derivatives efforts and launching new business lines.
The platform will also spend some of the capital on strategic investments and acquisitions in key verticals and look to expand its network of partnerships.
FTX US president Brett Harrison says the firm scaled rapidly throughout the course of 2021, and the Series A valuation reflects both that growth and its plans for 2022.
“As lawmakers and regulators continue to develop a US regulatory framework for digital assets, we expect crypto to play a much larger role in the broader financial landscape in 2022 and beyond,” Harrison adds.
He says FTX US will continue to work cooperatively with regulators, “and I feel confident that FTX US will emerge as the leading US-regulated crypto spot and derivatives exchange”.
