FTX Raises $420 Million in Series B-1 — Crypto Exchange Commands $25 Billion Valuation

The digital currency exchange FTX Trading Limited announced the firm has raised more than $420 million in a Series B-1 fundraise.

FTX crypto exchange raises $420M from 69 investors

FTX’s user base has grown by 48%, while its average trade volume has increased 75% since a funding round in July. FTX, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, has raised $420 million in fresh funding, bringing its total valuation to $25 billion.The firm officially announced Thursday that FTX’s operator, FTX Trading, has completed a new Series B-1 fundraise involving 69 investors, including Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and Singapore’s state investment firm Temasek.Other investors included major venture capital firms such as Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, Sea Capital, Ribbit Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and funds and accounts managed by BlackRock.According to FTX head of product Ramnik Arora, the new funding will help the company further expand its market opportunities across equities, prediction markets, nonfungible tokens (NFT) and videogame partnerships.

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Reveals Reason Behind Billions Of Dollars Tether Purchase

The come-up of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange has been one of the most inspiring stories out of the crypto space.

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team Inks Long Term Deal With Crypto Exchange FTX

Following a number of partnerships this year, FTX Trading Limited announced on Thursday that the company has partnered with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team.

FTX crypto exchange expands to Bahamas with new registration

Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange FTX plans to establish a “substantial presence” in The Bahamas. FTX, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, continues expanding operations by inking major regulatory approval in The Bahamas.The Securities Commission of The Bahamas has registered FTX Digital Markets, the Bahamian subsidiary of the global FTX crypto exchange, as an official digital asset business, the firm announced Sept.

FTX Launches Cross-Platform NFT Marketplace

FTX, a spot and cryptocurrency exchange, announced the launch of an NFT marketplace on its trading platform today.

Nifty News: Dolce & Gabbana's historic NFTs, '26 minute' CryptoPunk flip, FTX spammed

People on Twitter were accusing Pranksy of wash trading a CryptoPunk NFT, Dolce & Gabbana is auctioning luxury NFTs to “approved bidders” and FTX was spammed with tokenized fish.

Crypto exchange FTX launches NFT marketplace for US-based customers

Crypto exchange FTX has introduced a native NFT marketplace designed to capitalize on the sector’s parabolic growth over the last year. After witnessing the parabolic growth of the nonfungible token (NFT) ecosystem since the turn of the year, popular cryptocurrency exchange FTX has become the latest crypto platform to announce the launch of a native NFT marketplace.Exclusive for United States-based customers, the platform will enable users to mint, buy and sell NFTs — all traded cross-chain across the Ethereum and Solana blockchains.

Expanding ecosystem and LedgerX acquisition send FTX Token (FTT) to a new ATH

FTT price soared to a new all-time high after FTX exchange added LedgerX to its ever-expanding list of acquisitions and partnerships. Real-world adoption and brand awareness are one of the best ways for a blockchain project to increase its value and attract new users to users to its ecosystem. One project that has seen massive growth throughout 2021 thanks to its increasing public exposure and exciting protocol launches and partnerships is FTX, a crypto-derivatives trading platform founded by Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang.

FTX.US acquires Bitcoin derivatives platform LedgerX

FTX.US acquires LedgerX for an undisclosed amount to dive into Bitcoin and Ether futures trading. FTX.US, the United States-based affiliate of Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is acquiring crypto derivatives platform LedgerX for an undisclosed amount.FTX.US’ owner, West Realm Shire Services, announced on Tuesday that the company had executed a sale-and-purchase agreement to acquire LedgerX’s parent company, Ledger Holdings.

SBF promotes efficiency of ‘misunderstood’ crypto derivatives

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried says derivatives are necessary to bolster the liquidity and efficiency of markets.

FTX Bags Naming Rights Of Cal Memorial Stadium For $17.5M To Display Their Brand

Cal Memorial Stadium has sold its naming rights to FTX during its second vital branding move.

Billionaire Simon Nixon’s venture capital to increase crypto allocation

A new report suggests that 4% of the total Bitcoin supply — 816,379 BTC — is owned by 14 Bitcoin fund issuers and asset managers. English billionaire and Moneysupermarket.com founder Simon Nixon has plans to increase his crypto investments through his London-based venture capital firm.According to a Bloomberg report on Thursday, Adam Proctor, managing director for Nixon’s investment firm Seek Ventures, said that the company intends to increase the “allocation to crypto as we feel it is an important area for the future.”Furthermore, Proctor said that Seek Ventures is currently on the lookout for an analyst who can lead this crypto-focused effort.Digital currencies are drawing the interest of family offices, according to Goldman Sachs, which stated that half of the family offices it does business with are interested in adding crypto to their portfolios.The Bitcoin (BTC) ecosystem has seen the steady involvement of billionaires, including Carl Icahn, who recently said he may invest up to $1.5 billion into crypto, stating, “Bitcoin to me is just a store of value.”Moreover, the recent temporary downfall of Bitcoin’s price to below $30,000 was seen as an investment opportunity for Alameda Research, a Hong Kong-based firm led by FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.Related: Asset managers and companies accumulate 1.2M Bitcoin worth $57 billionA new report suggests that 4% of the total Bitcoin supply — 816,379 BTC — is owned by 14 Bitcoin fund issuers and asset managers, currently representing $40.1 billion.

Hacked Liquid exchange receives $120M debt funding from FTX

The funding comes soon after Liquid suffered a major hacking incident last Thursday when the exchange’s warm wallets were compromised. Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Liquid has secured $120 million in debt financing from FTX Trading after suffering a nearly $100 million hack last week.Announcing the news Thursday, Liquid Group and FTX Trading — the owner and operator of crypto exchange FTX — said that the new funds will help Liquid improve its balance sheet and contribute to the exchange’s licensing opportunities in the key jurisdictions of Japan and Singapore.

In 2014, Selected MIT Students Got $100 Of Free BTC. What Did They Do With It?

This fascinating experiment involving free BTC generated concrete results and we’re here to review them.

An Introduction To Solana: Innovations, Characteristics, And Criticism

Will Solana be the one? The race to be the prime smart-contract-enabled blockchain is heating up.

KYC tools can minimize hassle for US crypto market, FTX CEO says

FTX will now use phone numbers to confirm users’ jurisdiction and names in addition to testing new KYC tools. Ongoing regulatory scrutiny has forced many crypto businesses across the globe to close up shop. Amid this crackdown, Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of prominent crypto exchange FTX, has been vocal about his continued efforts to adapt to the changing regulations around running crypto businesses, announcing FTX’s efforts toward finding systems for streamlining its Know Your Customer (KYC) operations. “As we mature as a company, we’ve been building out our checks, finding and incorporating more signals,” Bankman-Fried stated.

FTX launching NFT sports platform, backs LCS esports league with 7 year deal

FTX is teaming up with Dolphin Entertainment to create an NFT marketplace that will target brands within sectors such as sports, entertainment, gaming, esports, and charity.

Regulatory clarity for crypto would take 3 to 5 years, FTX CEO says

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried expects governments to have a clearer stance in the next three to five years and wishes to become a part of the discussions with the regulators “to build out this regime.” Running a successful crypto business requires close attention to the cloud of regulatory changes put forth by governments.

FTX Slashes Leverage Limit from 100x to 20x — Community Suspects Competitors Will Follow Example

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried told his Twitter followers on Sunday that his crypto exchange has lowered its margin trading limit from 101x to 20x.

Trading firm of richest crypto billionaire reveals buying ‘a lot more’ Bitcoin below $30K

Alameda Research, headed by Sam Bankman-Fried, whose net worth lately has reached over $8 billion, has upped its Bitcoin buying around its key psychological support of $30,000. Bitcoin’s (BTC) painful plunge below $30,000 on Tuesday turned into a so-called “buy the dip” opportunity for Alameda Research, a Hong Kong-based quantitative trading firm and liquidity solutions firm headed by FTX CEO and founder Sam Bankman-Fried.Quantitative trader Sam Trabucco revealed late Tuesday that the company purchased Bitcoin during its latest price decline, adding that the company’s cautious strategy to go long BTC/USD surfaced out of at least three “recovery” catalysts: a potential end to the ongoing crypto FUD (China ban, Grayscale epic unlock, etc.), the stock market’s intraday recovery, and weaker long liquidations in the derivatives market.

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.

FTX smashes crypto funding record with $900m raise to become exchange decacorn

The crypto derivatives exchange has seen its valuation soar over the past year, reflecting the rapid growth of digital assets over the same period.

Billionaire SBF says FTX may one day buy Goldman Sachs and CME

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has said that acquiring Goldman Sachs and CME “is not out of the question,” if the exchange beats competition from Binance and Coinbase.

FTX crypto exchange integrates institutional trading tool ClearLoop

FTX has inked a deal with Copper that could enable access to crypto trading products for over 300 institutional asset managers via the ClearLoop settlement platform. FTX has become the latest crypto exchange service to join ClearLoop — an instant trading settlement infrastructure from Brevan Howard-backed Copper.co.As part of the integration, Copper’s over 300 institutional asset managers will be able to access FTX crypto offerings such as cryptocurrency futures, options, volatility markets, as well as tokenized stocks among others.At over one million registered users and more than $600 billion in trading volume per month, FTX is the largest crypto exchange to join the ClearLoop platform, according to the Copper announcement on Tuesday.With Deribit and Bitfinex also part of ClearLoop, Copper’s institutional clients can now move funds among the largest crypto options, spot and derivatives exchanges in the market.According to Copper, ClearLoop offers secure crypto trading via an offline custody solution with asset managers able to trade fund balances on exchange platforms.

FTX Partners With Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen in Long Term Deal

FTX Trading Limited has announced the company has partnered with seven-time Super Bowl Champion Tom Brady and Brazilian model Gisele Bündchen in a long-term deal.

Swiss-based Digital Assets AG launches tokenized stock offerings on Solana

Tokenized shares of Facebook, Google-parent Alphabet, Netflix, Nvidia, PayPal, Square and Tesla will be available to trade at the launch.

FTX Becomes MLB’s Official Cryptocurrency Exchange Brand in Long Term Deal

Following the naming rights deal for the NBA’s Miami Heat arena and the partnership with the esports giant TSM, FTX Trading Limited revealed a long term partnership with the professional baseball organization Major League Baseball (MLB).

FTX becomes official crypto sponsor of MLB

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of FTX and Alameda Research, announced the new partnership on Wednesday.

Are These The 6 Richest People In The Crypto Industry ?

There’s a lot of money in the crypto industry, that much is for sure.

Finance Redefined: The shadow DeFi conference in Miami! June 2-9

Talking with big brains about DeFi, regulation, CBDCs, and institutional adoption at the Bitcoin conference in Miami! Last week, I made the mistake of being just about the only DeFi denizen who actually went to the Bitcoin 2021 event in Miami. While I managed to catch up with a handful of builders and big brains in the convention center, my time would have been better spent tracking down degens at the various satellite events, yacht parties, and nightclub meetups — the “shadow conference” for DeFi taking place while boomercoin maximalists talked over the same points they’ve been parroting for the better part of a decade.

Solana Aims to Raise $450 Million to Battle Ethereum Supremacy

Solana, a proof-of-stake, smart contracts-enabled currency, is aiming to raise $450 million in a funding round that was extended last March.

FTX Lands Naming Deal With Esports Giant TSM for $210 Million

On Friday, FTX Exchange announced signing a naming rights deal with US professional esports organization TSM for $210 million.

Circle Captures $440 Million in Financing, Rumors of SPAC Deal Follow

The Boston-based cryptocurrency finance firm Circle has announced the company has raised $440 million in financing in order to “drive market expansion and growth.” The investment was led by prominent finance firms like Digital Currency Group, Fidelity Management and Research Company, and FTX.

Cobie Livestream Raises $800,000 in Crypto to Pay Child’s Cancer Treatment

Cobie, the host of the Uponly podcast and a popular crypto Twitter personality, bolstered a fundraising session for John Oliver, a six-year-old kid that is currently battling leukemia.

Crypto Derivatives Exchange FTX Starts Offering Lumber Futures Amidst Commodities Price Boom

FTX, one of the largest derivatives exchanges, has started to offer lumber-based futures markets for its customers, given the recent interest in speculating on commodities prices.

Yearn Finance Founder Andre Cronje Set to Fight the Rug Pulled Crypto Messiah in a Dubai Boxing Match

South African crypto entrepreneur and Yearn Finance founder, Andre Cronje, is set to brawl Crypto Messiah in a physical fight at a Dubai crypto conference.

World’s Wealthiest Annual Ranking Now Lists 12 Crypto Billionaires

The American business magazine Forbes recently published the company’s 2021 documentation of the wealthiest billionaires in the world.

3X as many crypto figures make it onto Forbes 2021 billionaires list as last year

Twelve crypto billionaires have made the Forbes list for 2021, with Sam Bankman-Fried the leader in crypto with a net worth of $8.7 billion.

Crypto Exchange FTX on the Verge of Winning Naming Rights for the Miami Heat’s Arena

Samuel Bankman-Fried’s FTX crypto exchange is reportedly one vote away from winning a naming-rights deal for the arena of the NBA’s Miami Heat.

Solana announces DeFi hackathon offering $200k in seed funding

Solana will host a DeFi hackathon offering a $200,000 prize pool and $200,000 in seed funding to aspiring developers. Solana has announced an upcoming DeFi hackathon offering $200,000 in seed funding from the Solana Foundation. The hackathon, which is scheduled to take place from Feb.

SBF says he's amassed a $10 billion fortune in just three years in crypto

FTX exchange CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is worth an estimated $10 billion according to a New York Magazineinterview.

FTX Token (FTT) rallies 105% as interest in derivatives trading grows

In the last 30 days, FTX Token rallied 105% as its exchange surpassed BitMEX and Deribit's open interest, but is there room for further upside? FTX is a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange backed by Alameda Research, a quantitative trading firm and crypto liquidity provider.  The exchange launched in April 2019 and offered the usual spot trading, inverse swaps and futures contracts that can be found at other major platforms.

SBF leads $50M funding round to bring DeFi to Maps.me's 140M users

A travel and mapping application with 140 million users worldwide has raised $50 million to integrate decentralized finance protocols into its platform. Leading offline mapping application Maps.me has conducted a $50 million seed funding round to embed decentralized finance tools onto its platform. The funding round for “Maps.me 2.0” was led by Sam Bankman-Fried of Alameda Research and also featured participation from crypto venture heavyweights CMS Holdings and Genesis Capital. Maps.me 2.0 will be a wide-ranging application, featuring travel guides, hotel bookings and mapping services, in addition to exchange features and a multicurrency crypto-asset wallet offering annual yields of up to 8%.

The Smart Way to Talk About DeFi’s $22B

"TVL isn't the best indicator when ETH and all other crypto is green for weeks," one observer said of DeFi's recent growth.

Binance hits record high of $80B in daily volume as crypto markets surge

Binance has reported a new record of more than $80 billion in daily volume across its spot and derivatives platforms. Changpeng Zhao, the chief executive of Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trade volume, reported a record of $80 billion in 24-hour trade activity on Jan.

FTX Exchange Launches Pre-IPO Futures Contracts for the Coinbase Public Listing

After the San Francisco-based exchange Coinbase announced it was registering with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in order to have an initial public offering (IPO), FTX Exchange CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said the company would launch pre-IPO futures.

Coinbase Allegedly Taps Goldman Sachs to Lead IPO, FTX Exchange May Launch Pre-IPO Futures

Following the San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange’s initial public offering (IPO) Form S-1 draft registration, reports note that Goldman Sachs will likely lead the IPO.

Sam Bankman-Fried believes even ETH 2 can't handle DeFi's potential growth

FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried doesn’t believe Ethereum will be able to provide the scaling capabilities required by the DeFi sector in future. FTX exchange co-founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried believes Ethereum (ETH) is incapable of handling decentralized finance’s (DeFi) growth. Talking to Camila Russo from the Defiant Podcast, Bankman-Fried says that the Ethereum blockchain is limitin DeFi’s development and the only way around it is to build on other networks: “At some point, it’s just clear that we weren’t getting around that.

Addicted to Crypto?

Some trade crypto because they have to; some of us just can't stop.

Decentralized Exchanges That Use Automated Market Makers Now Represent 93% of the Market

A recent report by Consensys says the surge in decentralized exchange (DEX) volumes in Q3 of 2020 is down to their adoption of the automated market maker (AMM).

Cryptocurrency CEO Donated Second-Largest Amount to Joe Biden’s Campaign

Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of cryptocurrency derivatives platform FTX, made the second-largest donation to Joe Biden's presidential campaign.

12 Defi Con Artists Exposed – Are Rug Pulling Incidents Threatening the Future of Defi ?  

The ongoing hype about the abnormally high returns from Defi tokens has naturally seen many more investors moving funds to decentralized protocols.

Defi Boom: Bubble Fears Grow as ‘Toxic’ Community Disagrees on Way Forward

The decentralized finance (defi) space is headed for an implosion unless the divided community leaders step forward with solutions.

Sushiswap’s 2 Million Token Airdrop: Founders Face Accusations of ‘Making Defi a Joke Again’

Sushiswap’s new leader and FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted on September 12 that the promised 2 million token airdrop would go on as scheduled.

SushiSwap Will Withdraw Up to $830M From Uniswap Today: Why It Matters for DeFi

It's perhaps the largest test to date of a growing mood in DeFi: that all major projects should be community-owned.

Creator leaves SushiSwap in hot water as multisig revival is on the menu

SushiSwap’s community will take charge of the platform once it completes its migration to a multisignature contract from Uniswap. The high-risk environment around the decentralized finance space and hype for one of its latest offerings, SushiSwap, raises an analogy with a Japanese delicacy called fugu, or pufferfish, which is said to be more deadly than cyanide. Highly trained chefs have been serving up fugu in Japan’s top restaurants for decades, balancing the lives of their customers on the edges of their Yanagiba knives.

Defi’s Raw Deal: Sushiswap Creator Transfers Multi-Sig Control to FTX CEO

After a number of individuals from the crypto community accused the anonymous developer Chef Nomi of exit scamming, the developer transferred the project over to Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of the trading platform FTX.

Defi Project Yearn Finance Smashes Records as Native Token Surpasses $30K

The decentralized finance (defi) crypto asset tied to the Yearn Finance project has smashed records this week, as the coin touched a high of $30,324 on Saturday evening.

Crypto Exchange FTX Buys Blockfolio for $150 Million in Effort To Expand Retail Presence

Cryptocurrency derivatives exchange FTX has acquired the popular portfolio tracking app Blockfolio for $150 million in a bid to gain a foothold in the crypto retail market.