The fast-growing cryptocurrency exchange FTX is preparing to spend billions of dollars on acquisition deals in other companies, as it looks to expand its range of products to customers, the company's CEO said.
Billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, also a co-founder of the company, indicated Friday that recent funding rounds for FTX and its US company have raised more than $2 billion, which will be used to fund those plans.
"[FTX] is a profitable company, and you can look at how much we've raised over the last year or two, which is a few billion dollars, and maybe that gives a sense of where we stand in terms of the cash that they've raised based on its use entirely in potential acquisitions," Farid said in an interview. ".
Fred Bankman, 30, has emerged as one of the most famous people in the cryptocurrency space. FTX rose to prominence with the company's NFL Finals ads, a court dispute over the naming rights for the Miami Heat, and its logo on Major League Baseball referees' uniforms.
Huge liquidity
Recently, "FTX" caused controversy in traditional financial circles with its plan to enter the market of brokerage firms specialized in settling and clearing transactions of some financial derivatives.
“FTX” does not need cash to fund its endeavors to make deals, as the exchange raised $400 million, at a valuation of $32 billion last January, bringing the total amount raised in the past six months to about $2 billion, and this coincided with The American company raised $400 million separately.
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The company is seeing momentum in spending, while Fred Bankman said FTX does not need to buy new companies to grow.
Last year, the company's US arm, LedgerX, bought the CFTC-regulated trading and clearing exchange, aiming to gain a foothold in the US crypto-derivatives market.
In April, FTX bought a large stake in IEX Group Inc., owner of the stock trading platform made famous by the Flash Boys.
This month, Fred Bankman revealed the purchase of a 7.6% stake in Robinhood Markets Inc.
Upcoming acquisitions
“We are always open to this and keep a close eye on all new changes,” Bankman-Fried commented on further acquisitions, adding that one of FTX's ambitions is to be able to offer more products to investors, including stock trading. , so they don't have to go anywhere else to get those services.
Farid said that companies with large user bases or teams have deep knowledge and experience in areas that FTX does not have extensive experience in; They can be attractive targets for acquisition.
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He explained that acquisitions are appropriate from an economic perspective “if they are certainly cheap,” noting that this factor has been a great incentive to invest in Robinhood Markets to manage cryptocurrencies recently; The company's share fell at the time of acquisition by about 90% from its highest level in August when it reached $85 per share.
FTX's ambitions require the company to spend a lot of time working with regulators in Washington, noting that he comes to the US capital about twice a week, according to Farid.
While Fred Bankman said his company is working with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission as FTX expands to bring more products to market; He noted that the company is not currently planning to acquire a federal bank franchise, as some crypto companies have done.
Cryptocurrency giant FTX planning multi-billion dollar acquisitions
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