In Brief:
- The Bahamas-based company announced that it had raised $400 million in a Series C funding round, its third in the previous nine months.
- With a total of $2 billion in enterprise funding raised to date, FTX has built up a war chest at a time when digital foreign money costs have plummeted significantly.
- The company intends to use the new funds to continue developing new products.
FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange, saw its valuation increase to $32 billion in a new funding round announced by large investors such as SoftBank, Paradigm, Tiger Global, and the Ontario Teachers’ Plan Pension Board.
It highlights the continued appetite for the sector even as investors become concerned about a sharp drop in crypto prices.
The Bahamas-based firm announced that it had raised $400 million in a Series C financing round, its third in the previous nine months.
With a total of $2 billion in venture funding raised to date, FTX has gathered a war chest at a time when digital currency prices have plummeted significantly.
This has raised concerns that the market is on the verge of a more severe downturn known as “crypto winter.” Bear markets are typically bad news for cryptocurrency exchanges because they cause volumes to dry up.
“I think we’re not entering a long-term crypto winter,” Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX’s CEO and co-founder.
“There have been changes in expectations of interest rates, and that’s been moving crypto markets. But it’s been moving markets more generally as well”, Bankman-Fried said in an interview with CNBC.
The new funds raised by FTX will be used to continue developing new products and it is now licensing its software to other businesses in the fintech and gaming sectors. Bankman-Fried said FTX’s international business will be licensed across “the bulk of the Western world” by the end of this year.
According to Bankman-Fried, acquiring licences in various countries is a major focus for FTX. Its US subsidiary is now permitted to sell derivatives such as futures and options, which allow investors to speculate on price movements in an asset.
The company does not offer buying and selling services within the United States. This service is provided by FTX U.S., its sister exchange. FTX U.S. announced a $400 million investment last week, valuing the company at $8 billion.
