FTX’s valuation reaches $32 billion after a $400 million funding round

FTX, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, recently closed a funding round that increased its valuation to $32 billion. A Monday announcement noted that the exchange had raised $400 million in a Series C funding round.

This is the third funding round for the Bahamas-based company within nine months, showing that the crypto sector continues to attract investors.

FTX is growing despite the market dip

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FTX is both a derivatives exchange and a spot trading platform. The company has a reach in many countries, but the exchange operates under FTX US in the US. Both FTX and FTX US have attracted a wide range of investors.

Despite this growing interest in the crypto space by investors, the market has tanked significantly over the past month. In a recent interview with CNBC, the CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, opined,

I think we’re not entering a long term crypto winter.

“There have been changes in expectations of interest rates, and that’s been moving crypto markets. But it’s been moving markets more generally as well,” Bankman-Fried added. The executive could be referring to the traditional financial market that has also dropped amidst news that the US Federal Reserve would raise interest rates to curb the growing inflation rate.

One of FTX’s leading competitors in the crypto space is Coinbase. Last year, Coinbase became a publicly-traded company, and regarding this, Bankman-Fried noted that “I’m not sure whether we will. I could see it happening, I could see it not happening. We don’t feel like we have any particular need to do it.”

FTX focusing on regulations

The crypto market has grown significantly over the past few years, but this growth has also attracted the attention of regulators. Bankman-Fried noted that the exchange was looking to acquire operating licenses in various jurisdictions.

FTX.US recently received approval from the US to offer derivatives products, including futures and options. These products allow investors to speculate on price movements. The executive is also optimistic of receiving regulatory approval in the “bulk of the Western World” by the end of 2021.

Since October, FTX notes that its user base has grown by 60%. The exchange received another funding that brought its valuation to $25 billion in October.