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.
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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.
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