Participated · Equity · Aug 2019

FTX Trading Ltd. operates FTX.COM, a cryptocurrency exchange built by traders for traders that offers derivatives, options and volatility products, tokenized stocks, prediction markets, leveraged tokens and an OTC desk. The company recently launched FTX Ventures, a $2 billion venture fund to advance global blockchain, cryptocurrency and Web3 adoption. FTX.COM is not available to U.S. residents or residents of other prohibited jurisdictions, per its Terms of Service. Led by CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, the company has pursued rapid product expansion across trading and institutional services. In connection with its growth, FTX disclosed a major equity financing that materially increased its public valuation. Financial and operating metrics beyond the announced financing and valuations were not disclosed in the article. FTX operates a cryptocurrency exchange and is based in San Francisco, CA. The company has just completed a new funding round that values it at $18 billion. FTX raised $900 million in the round, led by SoftBank Group Corp. More than 60 investors participated, and several prominent venture and hedge investors were named. The article notes that FTX's team worked directly with investors Paradigm, Ribbit, and BTIG to close the deal rather than using an investment banker. No operating metrics or use-of-proceeds details are provided in the article. FTX operates a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange offering futures trading, leveraged tokens and an OTC portal for traders and investment professionals. The platform supports quarterly and perpetual futures on major cryptocurrencies and various altcoin and midcap indices. It provides OTC trades on over 20 coins with no fees and instant settlement. The exchange was incubated by Alameda Research, which trades up to $1 billion per day and manages over $100 million in digital assets. Leading up to the raise FTX crossed $300m in total trading volume and launched spot orders, leaderboards, altcoin index futures and other features. FTX also issued a native utility token, FTT, that offers revenue buy-and-burn, lower trading fees, OTC rebates and collateral for futures trading.