Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) exchange FTX reportedly The company is in discussions with investors to raise up to $1 billion at a valuation of $32 billion.
Singapore investment firms Temasek, SoftBank and Tiger Global are among the existing investors who have agreed to fund FTX in the next round.
The exchange giant also held a funding round in January, raising $400 million to reach a valuation of $32 billion.Meanwhile, US-based derivatives arm FTX US It raised another $400 million in the same round, boosting its valuation to $8 billion.
investment so far
SBF has focused on investments and acquisitions from all angles. In May 2022, FTX purchased his 7.6% of Robinhood for his $648.3 million. It’s a small investment compared to FTX’s size, but it saved Robinhood’s struggling stock and led to a 36% gain.
A month later, SBF gave BlockFi a hand. crypto slate We broke the news as SBF was negotiating with the troubled exchange and two other potential investors.The negotiations resulted in SBF lending $400 million in credit to the exchange . BlockFi then offered the option to buy the entire company for up to $240 million, depending on performance.
In July, it was revealed that South Korean exchanges Bithumb and FTX had been negotiating an acquisition deal for two months. Although negotiations are not yet complete, buying Bithumb will help SBF expand in Asia, his two main goals, and prevent further contagion in the market.
Meanwhile, SBF-owned Alameda Ventures continues to invest separately. In June, Alameda lent 15,000 Bitcoin (BTC) and $200 million in cash and USDC to Voyager Digital in an attempt to save its exposure to Three Arrows Capital. However, the attempt was not enough and both entities went bankrupt in the following weeks.
Ivoyagernvestments in front of the winter market
In fact, M&A was FTX’s top priority even before the winter market began. Earlier in the bear market, FTX US president Brett Harrison said the company was looking to acquire local companies to expand overseas.
He said:
“We do it globally, partnering with, and sometimes acquiring, local companies to help us obtain the necessary licenses in various locations such as Japan, Australia and Dubai.”
As per their plan, FTX acquisition Japanese crypto exchange Liquid in February 2022. The amount spent by FTX was not disclosed. But Liquid was an essential step in his FTX expansion in Asia.
