Asian investment giants SoftBank Group and Temasek Holdings lifted FTX US to an $8 billion valuation after the cryptocurrency exchange raised $400 million in its first funding round on Wednesday.
The Japanese technology investment giant and the Singapore state holding company joined Paradigm, Multicoin Capital, Tribe Capital, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and others for the series A funding.
“What this raise means to us is that we are officially establishing ourselves on the stage of the largest competitors of cryptocurrency exchanges in the US and signalling to the world that we are going to continue to expand very rapidly,” FTX US president Brett Harrison said.
Greenoaks Capital, Steadview Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners also participated in the FTX US funding round.
Venture capital firms invested $30 billion in crypto in 2021, according to research firm PitchBook.
Rival To Coinbase, Binance
Chicago-based FTX US was launched in 2020 by former Wall Street high frequency trading executives, and it competes with leading crypto exchanges Coinbase and Binance.
FTX US had an average daily volume of about $360 million in the third quarter, according to the company. Its users increased by 52% quarter over quarter, though the company has declined to share how many users it has overall.
The exchange said it intends to use the funds to grow its user base and launch new business lines, and will also consider strategic investments and acquisitions.
It also plans to expand its 100-strong staff, said Harrison, who previously worked at Citadel Securities. In October, FTX US acquired LedgerX in a move to expand into crypto futures and options trading.
• Reuters, with additional editing by George Russell
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