Crypto derivatives exchange FTX has just raised the largest private equity round in the industry’s history, nearly doubling the previous record. Tod

Bitcoin Alert: Biggest Private Crypto Deal Ever Is Closed

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2021-07-20 20:00:07

Crypto derivatives exchange FTX has just raised the largest private equity round in the industry’s history, nearly doubling the previous record. Today, FTX Trading Ltd., owner and operator of the exchange, announced the $900 million Series B fundraise at an $18 billion valuation – a major milestone for FTX, which was worth only $1.2 billion a year ago.

In total, over 60 investors participated in the fundraise including Paradigm, Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, Third Point, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Coinbase Ventures, Softbank, Sino Global Capital, Multicoin, the Paul Tudor Jones family, VanEck, Circle and hedge funders Izzy Englander and Alan Howard. Instead of relying on an investment banker to organize the round FTX’s team worked directly with investors Paradigm, Ribbit, and BTIG to close the deal.

A relative latecomer among cryptocurrency exchanges, FTX, launched in May 2019, differentiated itself from industry giants like Binance and Coinbase by offering even inexperienced traders advanced functionality and sophisticated investment products, including options, futures, volatility products and leveraged tokens. FTX averages over $10 billion in daily trading volume; it increased revenues tenfold this year and 75 times since its Series A funding round, closed in mid-2020, according to a company statement.