Key takeaways:
- A leading cryptocurrency exchange FTX raised $400 million during its Series C fundraising round led by Temasek and Paradigm
- The exchange has reached a $32 billion valuation, surpassing the market cap of some of the biggest publicly traded companies in the world
- Last week, FTX US, the American-based arm of the international FTX exchange, raised $400 million in Series A at an $8 billion valuation
The FTX cryptocurrency exchange has announced the close of its latest funding round, during which the rapidly growing digital asset trading platform raised $400 million from a series of high-profile investors.
With a $32 billion valuation, FTX is now bigger than Philips and Twitter in terms of market cap
The Series C fundraise saw participation from notable venture capital firms, such as Temasek, Paradigm, and SoftBank. The close of the latest funding round comes roughly a week after the exchange’s American arm, FTX US, announced a $400 million haul in its first-ever external fundraising round. At the time, President of FTX US Bret Harrison stated that Series A reflected “both what we’ve concretely accomplished and what we’ve laid the groundwork for in 2022.”
According to Monday’s press release, most investors who participated in previous FTX funding rounds have contributed to the Series C as well, showcasing their “belief in the Company’s vision.” Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and CEO of FTX, commented on the success of Series C:
“Our Series C financing round represents a milestone achievement for FTX, as we raised close to $2 billion in six months. This round will support our continued mission of delivering innovative products and services to the marketplace as well as expanding our global reach with additional licenses around the world.”
Bankman-Fried added that the exchange will continue working with policymakers and financial watchdogs to “ facilitate access to digital assets in a safe and compliant manner.” In pursuit of this goal, FTX US has recently inked a sponsorship deal with Washington-based sports organizations, which the exchange hopes will help increase its favor among the US regulators.
FTX concluded its Series B round last October – with more than $420 million raised, the company’s valuation reached $25 billion at the time. As a side note, and to illustrate how far along the industry has progressed in just a few years, Coinbase’s Series E netted the first US publicly traded exchange $300 million, which pushed the valuation to $8 billion at the time. Today, Coinbase (COIN) trades at roughly $182 per share, good for a market cap of $39.1 billion.
With its current valuation of $32 billion, FTX enjoys a larger market cap than some of the most prominent tech companies globally, such as Dutch tech conglomerate Philips ($28.4 bln) and social media giant Twitter ($28.2 bln).
FTX’s native exchange token FTT gained more than 3.5% on the news and set a new cycle high of $42.72 at press time. FTT gained more than 33% in the last seven days and is currently one of 2022’s biggest gainers in the cryptocurrency top 100.
