Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX in talks to raise $1B for deals and acquisitions

Crypto exchange FTX is in discussions with investors to raise $1 billion fresh capital in the next funding round at a valuation of $32 billion. As per the reports by CNBC, the additional funds would be used to sign financial acquisitions during the bear market.

Investors including Singapore’s Temasek, SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 and Tiger Global have been backing up the firm.

In January, the crypto exchange raised $400 million in a Series C round and was valued at $32 billion. While in October 2021, it raised $420.69 million in a Series B-1 round at a valuation of $25 billion. Prior to that, FTX announced a $900 million Series B raise in July 2021 that was later revised to $1 billion, with a valuation of $18 billion.

Snapping deals and acquisitions during bear market

Former Wall Street trader and billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried launched the crypto exchange in 2019 and since then the firm is grabbing deals and making acquisitions. Earlier this year, the firm bought 7.6 % stake in crypto exchange, Robinhood.

Numerous firms have suffered during the bear market. This year, FTX, and its sister company Alameda Research, invested in firms that were on the verge of bankruptcy and issued millions of dollars to support the firms rebalance their balance sheets.

In July, the firm signed a deal to acquire BlockFi, a crypto lending platform. BlockFi received $250 million from FTX to stabilise its business. In April, FTX finalised a deal to acquire Japanese fintech company Liquid Group for an undisclosed amount. The deal was announced to help the company stay afloat after Liquid was hacked for $90 million.

Previously, FTX was in talks to buy one of South Korea's largest crypto exchange Bithumb. In August, the firm also offered to buy bankrupt crypto lender Voyager but later turned down the acquisition.

This month, FTX Ventures, an investment arm of the firm, announced that it would acquire a 30% stake in Anthony Scaramucci’s asset management firm SkyBridge Capital for an undisclosed amount.

It seems like Bankman Fried's goal for FTX to expand globally is working since various growth agreements have been put in place.

Revenue surge

As per multiple media reports, FTX saw exponential growth last year, fuelled by its global trading business. Its revenue reportedly soared more than 1,000% from $89 million to $1.02 billion in 2021.

Two-thirds of the firm's revenue came from futures trading fees, and 16% came from spot trading. In first quarter of 2022, FTX generated $270 million in revenue and was on track to generate roughly $1.1 billion in revenue in 2022.

(This story has been updated to reflect an updated headline, correct a typo, and alignment.)