Liquid Global is a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange. Its parent company, Quoine, was one of the first exchanges to receive a crypto asset operating license under Japan's Payment Services Act. Liquid suffered a cyberattack that resulted in a $90 million loss. FTX will lend $120 million to Liquid Global in debt financing to bolster its capital position, speed capital-generation projects, and provide liquidity. Liquid said the financing will improve its balance sheet and key regulatory metrics and support licensing opportunities in Japan and Singapore; its Singapore subsidiary Quoine Pte has applied to the Monetary Authority of Singapore for a license. Sam Bankman-Fried said the deal reinforces the importance of regulation and knowing your customer for the industry's future. Liquid is a cryptocurrency exchange that emphasizes regulatory compliance while pursuing regional expansion. The company offers centralized exchange services and plans to add products including derivatives, fiat on/off ramps, stablecoins and potentially a security-tokens platform. It has roughly 340 staff and offices in Japan, Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines. Liquid is working to obtain a Capital Markets Services (CMS) license and a virtual-currency license in Singapore to broaden its offerings. The exchange is ranked around 60th by 24‑hour trading volume (about $56 million traded in the last 24 hours) and says new capital will fund market expansion and new services. Liquid is also open to acquisitions, investments or partnerships to accelerate growth in Asia. Quoine operates a bitcoin exchange and supplies B2B2C backend engines for other bitcoin exchanges. The company reports transacting about $50 million of bitcoin per day and is ranked seventh globally by volume per Coinhills, making it Japan’s largest exchange. Management sees regulatory momentum after Japan enacted a bill to regulate cryptocurrency exchanges and expects demand to grow. Co-founder Kariya Kayamori became CEO earlier this year while Mario Gomez Lozada moved to CTO to focus on system development. Quoine expanded into Indonesia in October 2014 with partner Indomog and is pursuing growth across Japan and Asia. The firm reorganized its corporate structure so the Japanese company is now the parent of its Singapore subsidiary and aims to become Asia’s largest cryptocurrency exchange through partnerships.

Total raised

$140M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Debt Financing

Latest activity

Aug 2021