TL;DR Breakdown
- FTX has acquired Japanese exchange Liquid Group expanding, expanding its reach to Japan.
- FTX also raised $400 million, hitting a $32 billion valuation.
- The value of FTX’s native token has been steadily recovering.
- Coachella teams up with FTX to sell ten lifetime NFT passes
Interest in cryptocurrency has been on the rise, as seen with the increase in activities on several crypto exchanges. However, one particular exchange has been standing out: FTX. Founded in May 2019, this rapidly-growing exchange specializes primarily in derivatives and leveraged products.
Under the strong leadership of its eminent altruist CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, the exchange has made its way to becoming one of the top crypto trading platforms in the world in just under three years.
2022 is proving to be quite the year for FTX. The exchange has taken the crypto market by storm as it recently announced its best funding round yet. FTX challenges new horizons of growth and success. Here is a round-up of what FTX has accomplished so far this year.
FTX acquired Japanese crypto exchange Liquid
FTX is expanding its reigns to Japan. A press release made on February 2 informed that FTX is all set to acquire the Liquid Group, including all its operating subsidiaries. This includes the Quoine Corporation as well as Quoine Pte.
Details of the acquisition are still being kept close to the chest, including the price. But Liquid’s first investment round of 2019 saw its value rise to over $1 billion. However, it has been disclosed that the acquisition is expected to close sometime next month, March 2022.
This is a big step in the right direction for the exchange in expanding its borders. Established in 2014, Quoine was one of the first crypto exchanges in Japan to be registered by the Financial Services Agency (FSA) in 2017. Fast track to October 2021, the FSA awarded the exchange the Type 1 Financial Instruments Business registration. This makes it one of the first among the other exchanges to be registered with Japan’s FSA. Under this, its users are offered derivates and crypto trading services.
As per the arrangement, FTX will gradually integrate all its services and products post-acquisition. In addition, all existing Japanese clients are also expected to be transferred to Quoine’s platform. Retail and institutional customers in Japan and beyond should be served by the FTX and Liquid merger.
It is also important to note that this is not the first encounter with Liquid. In fact, Liquid became the victim of a cyber attack in August last year, incurring losses over $90 million in value. After this, FTX provided $120 million in debt financing to Liquid to improve capital position and liquidity.
This only seems to be a stepping stone in what the founder of FTX has planned for its company. Bankman has expressed his aspirations for acquiring Goldman Sachs CME Group one day. And this does not seem to be so far out of reach.
FTX raises $400M in latest funding round
The Bahamas-based crypto exchange, FTX, recently announced that the company raised $400 million in a Series C funding round, raising the company to a $32 billion valuation mark. In addition to the $1 billion venture funding round in July 2021 and the $320 million round in October, this brings the total funds raised to around $2 billion.
FTX does not operate in the US; however, it has a sister exchange, just for that purpose. In the week prior, the Ameican affiliate of FTX, FTX US, also managed to secure $400 million in its first-ever funding round, Series A, at a valuation of $8 billion. Paradigm, Singaporean state investor Temasek, and Japanese multinational conglomerate SoftBank contributed to the fundraising.
This puts the combined valuation of the companies at over $40 billion, surpassing Coinbase. With its seeds sown less than three years ago, the company has emerged as a key player in the nascent market, contending against popular exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken.
This valuation comes at a time when the digital currency market seems to be taking a hit. Bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, has lost more than 40% of its value since its November record high of $69,000. During a bear market with many exchanges losing value, FTX has managed to rise substantially.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO, claims it has more to do with the public and private market differential, with the private venture market being relatively robust as the publicly listed equities get hit. He also recently revealed that he is still on the fence about going public, especially with recent events in place.
Price standpoint
FTX Token (FTT) was trading around $45.59, with a 24-hour volume of $227,012,768 during the time of writing. The price has been up by 3.3% over the last 24 hours.
FTT has been reporting gradual but steady growth over the past week. However, it is yet to reach its two-week peak of $49.60 on January 20th. A dip in the value was reported four days ago, with the lowest being $31.61.
However, the token price has since been recovering from the dip and may even be on the path to hitting its monthly high of $49.76, following the recent developments around FTX exchange.
Coachella NFT partnership
One of the largest annual music festivals in the world, Coachella, has teamed up with the US-arm of FTX to offer ten-lifetime festival experiences as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), Cryptopolitan reported. The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is held in Palm Springs, California, every year, with major popular artists headlining the show.
FTX US reportedly signed a long-term deal with Coachella for the sale of these passes, which will be minted on the Solana blockchain. These NFT passes are expected to go on sale on February 4.
This may just count as one of the first moves towards mainstream NFT adoption. It also unlocks more use cases for NFTs, showing that digital collectibles can be used to enhance concert experience and what it could mean for the future of live events.
These NFT passes give owners access to Coachella every year, as well as unlimited access to virtual experiences produced by the festival. This also includes front row viewing, backstage, and on-stage access, even supported with a celebrity chef dinner.
In addition, two limited-edition NFT Collections will be launched for festival-goers that will include festival photos along with physical items like posters and photobooks.
The bottom line
FTX is fast approaching as one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges today. It has been able to achieve mammoth growth since its launch in 2019. Many speculate it is only the beginning of the expansion for FTX, which is expected to play a pivotal role in promoting mainstream crypto adoption.
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