Crypto firm FTX valued at $18B in $900M funding round

Crypto derivatives exchange FTX has been valued at a staggering $18 billion after raising $900 million in a new funding round.

According to the exchange, participants include Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group, Silicon Valley venture-capital firm Sequoia Capital, and the hedge fund led by billionaire Daniel Loeb – Third Point.

The founder and chief executive of FTX is Sam Bankman-Fried, a Californian who plans to use the funds for further mergers and acquisitions.

Spending lavishly to get the brand out to the world

In April this year, the exchange scored a 19-year, $135 million deal with the Miami Heat NBA franchise. The stadium is now called FTX Arena.

In June, FTX notched two more deals with National Football League star Tom Brady to be a brand ambassador. As part of that deal, both Brady and his wife – supermodel Gisele Bündchen – took equity stakes in FTX.

Bankman-Fried explained that further FTX plans include using its new funding to break through into regulated markets by acquisitions of financial companies that have a legit network in other countries.

“We’re looking to get licenses where we can,” Bankman-Fried said.

He also mentioned that some of the funding will be used to build out its new payments business. In May, the company launched FTX Pay – a service that merchants can use to accept payments in crypto and traditional currencies.

Following this news, FTX’s native token FTT jumped more than 15%.