FTX exchange completes industry's largest private equity fundraising: raising $900 million, valued at $18 billion, FTX CEO SBF's net worth reaches $16.2 billion

According to Forbes, cryptocurrency exchange FTX has reached a valuation of $18 billion after completing a $900 million financing round, setting a new record for the largest private equity fundraising in the history of the cryptocurrency industry. The previous record was held by Circle, the issuer of USDC, which raised $440 million at the end of May 2021. This latest financing round has further increased the net worth of 29-year-old FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) to $16.2 billion.

Impressive Investment Lineup: Paradigm, Ribbit, Softbank, Coinbase

The investment lineup is quite impressive, with FTX not going through traditional investment banks but directly transacting with Paradigm, Ribbit, and BTIG.

• Paradigm
• Sequoia Capital
• Ribbit Capital
• Third Point
• Lightspeed Venture Partners
• Coinbase Ventures
• Softbank
• Sino Global Capital
• Multicoin
• the Paul Tudor Jones family
• VanEck
• Circle
• Hedge fund managers Izzy Englander and Alan Howard

Purpose of Funding: Brand Expansion and Acquisitions

SBF stated that the purpose of the funding is to find strategic partners to help FTX expand, with the funds primarily used for acquisitions of non-native crypto companies, NFT platforms, or any value-added entities that can integrate FTX-related tools. Additionally, global expansion is also one of the fund's purposes.

Co-Founder of Binance: Equity Relationship Ended, We Remain Friends

In December 2019, Binance reached an undisclosed strategic investment deal with FTX. Binance's co-founder Zhao Changpeng CZ told Forbes that they have recently divested their equity in FTX. While they have witnessed FTX's growth, they have completely exited. CZ mentioned that this is a normal investment cycle, and they remain on friendly terms with FTX.