FTX raises largest-ever VC round for a crypto company
- Dan Primack, author ofAxios Pro Rata
Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
FTX, a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange that launched in 2019, raised $900 million in Series B funding at an $18 billion valuation.
Why it matters: It's the largest-ever VC round for a crypto company, let alone for an exchange that prohibits Americans from trading on its primary marketplace.
What FTX is tweeting: "We'd like the fanciest bean bag you have sir."
Investors include Paradigm, Sequoia Capital, Thoma Bravo, SoftBank, Ribbit Capital, Insight Partners, Third Point, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Altimeter, BOND, NEA, Coinbase Ventures, Willoughby Capital, 40North, Senator Investment Group, Sino Global Capital, Multicoin, the Paul Tudor Jones family, Izzy Englander, Alan Howard, VanEck, Hudson River Trading and Circle.
For your ears: Axios Re:Cap digs into the conflict between climate and crypto, with investor Anthony Pompliano.
For your eyes and ears: The ₿ Word event today will host a live conversation on Bitcoin with Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey and Cathie Wood.
The bottom line: "The financing comes after a boom in cryptocurrency trading in the past year, which has sent investors flooding into the sector. VCs have invested $7.3 billion in nearly 670 cryptocurrency startup deals since the start of 2021, according to PitchBook, already surpassing the dollar total for all of last year." — Miles Kruppa, FT