Today, the Bahamas-based crypto exchange FTX disclosed a $400 million raise in its Series C funding round, resulting in a mind-blowing deal that left the company’s value at a whopping $32 billion; attracting a 77% rise from its previous valuation of $25 billion.
That’s about the same as the market cap of Germany’s Deutsche Boerse and more than the Nasdaq exchange or Twitter, CoinDesk remarked.
This fundraising signified a major uptick in valuation from the last time FTX raised funds in October 2021 (6 months back), showcasing people’s continued appetite for the sector even as investors grow wary about a sharp pullback in crypto prices.
Catching Up On FTX And It’s US Affiliate
FTX is a cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform for futures, leveraged tokens, and over-the-counter trading. Once an obscure name, the firm has become a key player in the nascent market, rivaling the likes of Coinbase and Binance: CNBC reports.
Keep in mind that this otherwise global company does not, however, offer its trading services in the United States. Instead, this role is played by FTX U.S., which features a similar trading user interface, albeit with limited trading pairs and instruments in comparison.
Just a week earlier, FTX U.S. also announced its own $400 million Series A round, officially valuing the firm at a solid $8 billion on January 26.
- Read: This Token Became ‘The Top Traded Coin Amongst ETH Investors’ After An Ether Whale Splurged On It by clicking here.
Target Valuations Met
On December 3rd, an article from The Information reported that FTX was raising funds at those exact targeted valuations—$32 billion for the parent company and FTX’s U.S. affiliate at $8 billion. However, the report claimed that FTX sought to raise a total of $1.5 billion between the two entities, and ultimately the combined total is nearly half of that at $800 million, Decrypt notes.
Regardless, the fundraising this time round was a clear joint effort on the firm’s part, as nearly all the investors in FTX’s Series C round also participated in the FTX US Series A, including Paradigm, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Singaporean state investor Temasek, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, and Tiger Global, among others.
Sports Sponsorships
CEO Bankman-Fried also indicated that FTX’s sports sponsorship push has been a huge hit for FTX in terms of anecdotal brand awareness (in his statement today), even if he doesn’t have the hard data to prove it yet. It should be noted that at the moment, FTX has global ambassadors like Tom Brady and Stephen Curry, along with securing sponsorship deals with Miami Heat, Major League Baseball, esports club Team SoloMid in 2021.
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