FTX chief says the exchange will spend billions on acquiring stakes in other companies

FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange, will spend “billions” of dollars on acquiring stakes in other companies to broaden its product lineup. This was stated in an interview with Bloomberg by its chief, Sam Bankman-Fried.

“FTX is a profitable company. You can look at the amount we have raised in the last year or two — several billions of dollars. This gives an idea of where we stand in cash on the balance sheet, which was clearly considered as [instrument] for potential acquisitions,” he said.

In July 2021 FTX raised $900 million in a Series B financing round, the size of which was subsequently increased to $1 billion. In October of the same year the company closed a Series B-1 round for more than $420 million, after which its valuation reached $25 billion.

In January 2022 FTX received investments of $400 million. The exchange was valued at $32 billion. In the same month the US unit of the company raised an equivalent amount with a valuation of $8 billion.

The firm has been actively acquiring players in the sector and taking stakes in relevant organisations. Last year FTX.US bought the cryptocurrency derivatives platform LedgerX, and the parent company bought the Japanese bitcoin exchange Liquid.

“We have always been open to this, and we will continue to keep our ear to the ground,” Bankman-Fried commented on the FTX deals.

The head of the company noted that its aim is to offer investors a broad range of products, including trading traditional stocks. According to him, the exchange is interested in acquiring projects with a large user base or teams with extensive experience in areas outside FTX’s core competencies.

Earlier in May, CNBC reporters learned about plans by the company to buy one of the unicorns in the online-broker sector.