Deribit, the crypto-derivatives exchange, secures $40 million in funding

The Deribit crypto-derivatives exchange closed a funding round worth $40 million. The funds were provided by existing shareholders, The Block reports, citing informed sources.

The platform’s valuation stood at $400 million. The figure is down more than fivefold (from $2.1 billion in August 2021, when the firm attracted $100 million).

Chief Commercial Officer Luuk Straiers said that ‘essentially it doesn’t matter,’ since the funds were provided by existing investors. These include: QCP Capital, Akuna Capital and Dan Tapiero’s 10T Holdings. He added that the situation looks different when funds are raised from external sources.

‘This is more of a return of dividends from existing shareholders. We paid a high price earlier and decided that it was wiser to strengthen our balance sheet and preserve the assets rather than distribute them among the shareholders’, the senior executive explained.

In June, Deribit announced the liquidation of the hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) position following its inability to meet margin requirements. 

In July, the platform’s head John Jansen said that its financial resilience had not been harmed. One of the publication’s sources said the raised funds would allow the reserves to be rebuilt to the level seen prior to the incident.

In July, Deribit and Blockchain.com urged the liquidation of 3AC.

Earlier reports indicated that the cryptocurrency exchange FTX planned to raise $1 billion at a valuation of $32 billion.

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