FTX Closes $900 Million Series B — Capital Raise Pushes Exchange Valuation to $18 Billion

FTX Trading Ltd. announced the firm has closed the largest capital raise in crypto exchange history in a Series B funding round for $900 million. The financing gives FTX a valuation of around $18 billion and the crypto firm aims to expand its global presence.

FTX Closes Largest Capital Raise in Crypto Exchange History

FTX has seen a number of partnerships and growth in 2021 and following the firm’s Series A financing round last year, the company raised $900 million from over 60 investors for its Series B. The company details that since the last funding round, FTX revenues have increased tenfold and it now has over one million users.

Investors that participated in the $900 million Series B include Paradigm, Sequoia Capital, NEA, Coinbase Ventures, Willoughby Capital, the Paul Tudor Jones family, Izzy Englander, Alan Howard, Vaneck, Hudson River Trading, and Circle Financial. The newly injected funds will be dedicated to expansion and increasing both FTX users and products. FTX will also make its own “strategic investments,” the funding announcement details.

The announcement further explains that FTX handled the financing via the company’s in-house venture team alongside participation from BTIG, Ribbit, and Paradigm. Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of FTX explained in a statement that he was grateful for all the help his company has seen.

“I’m incredibly humbled by the support we’ve gotten,” Bankman-Fried detailed. “It’s our first large fundraise, but through it, we’ve formed a hugely valuable set of partners. I’m excited to work with them to make FTX the best company it can be. We started out as a new derivatives exchange two years ago, and this round will help us continue to build out a bigger and broader vision for what FTX could become.”

FTX has made a great number of strategic partnerships this year and with a significant focus on professional sports. During the announcement, FTX said that it plans to “further expand the network of partnerships” going forward. The company also highlighted that it plans to grow the firm’s FTX NFT (non-fungible token), FTX Liquidity program, and FTX Pay business lines.