FTX Trading, the Bahamas-registered cryptocurrency exchange backed by internet and telecommunications group SoftBank, payment technology provider Circle and crypto exchanges Coinbase and Binance, has raised approximately $421m in series B-1 funding.
The cash was supplied by 69 investors including Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board’s Teachers’ Innovation Platform, BlackRock, Temasek, Sequoia Capital, IVP, Iconiq Growth, Tiger Global Management, Sea Capital, Ribbit Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners, FTX said.
Founded in 2019 and incubated by quantitative trading firm Alameda Research, FTX runs a cryptocurrency exchange platform, and said its user base has grown by 48% and its average daily trading volume 75% since July this year, averaging $14bn daily.
The funding will help the company further develop its activities in areas such as equities, prediction markets, video game partnerships and non-fungible tokens. Its valuation increased to $25bn in the round.
Coinbase’s corporate venture subsidiary Coinbase Ventures, joined SoftBank, Circle and quantitative trading firm Hudson River in FTX’s $900m series B round in July this year.
Paradigm, Sequoia Capital, Ribbit, Thoma Bravo, Senator Investment Group, New Enterprise Associates, Insight Partners, Bond, Willoughby Capital, Multicoin, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Third Point were also among more than 60 participants in the July round.
The round additionally included Sino Global Capital, 40 North Managemment, Altimeter Capital, VanEck, the Paul Tudor Jones family and private investors Izzy Englander and Alan Howard. FTX revealed last week Temasek had subsequently added $100m to expand the round to $1bn.
Binance had invested an undisclosed amount in the company in December 2019, following a Proof of Capital-led $8m round four months earlier backed by Consensus Lab, FBG and Galois Capital.
FTX chief executive Sam Bankman said: “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.”
