Founded by 29-year-old Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX, a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange, has closed a $900 million funding round with $18 billion valuation. In other words FTX sold 5% of its shares for nearly a billion!

This highlights once again that venture capitalists are shrugging off market turmoil in their quest to uncover quality blockchain plays.

According to the release, over 60 investors participated such as the Paul Tudor Jones family, Coinbase Ventures, VanEck, Insight Partners and many more.

Many of the investors had nothing but spectacular things to say about the company and its CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried. “Crypto has the potential to disrupt our global financial system, and we believe FTX will be core to this theme for years to come,” said Deven Parekh, managing director at Insight Partners. “We believe this is only the beginning of FTX’s growth story and are thrilled to partner with them on the journey ahead.”

With the raise, FTX’s valuation has grown to $18 billion, making it one of the largest cryptocurrency companies in the world. Just one year ago, the derivatives exchange had a valuation of $1.2 billion.

FTX, which was founded in 2018 operates one of the largest crypto derivatives businesses in the world, with average daily volumes exceeding $10 billion. With a head office in Hong Kong and a parent company in Antigua, the company has been highly active in acquisitions and branding, having bought out Blockfolio for $150 million in August 2020. In March, the exchange secured the naming rights to the Miami Heat’s stadium for the next 19 years.

Regardless of the on-going market correction that cryptocurrencies are going through, venture firms continue to back crypto-focused startups with greater conviction. As Cointelegraph reported, Silicon Valley’s Andreessen Horowitz launched a $2.2 billion crypto venture fund last month, the largest in history.

Several crypto exchanges have grown to become “unicorns” — a term used by venture capitalists to describe startups with a valuation of $1 billion or more. Latin America, for example, is now home to two trading platforms worth over $2 billion. A “decacorn” is a company worth over $10 billion.

Bankman-Fried commented on today’s news:

“I’m incredibly humbled by the support we’ve gotten. It’s our first large fundraise, but through it we’ve formed a hugely valuable set of partners. I’m excited to work with them to make FTX the best company it can be.”

FTX is growing at a rapid pace and is poised to capture even more growth as Bitcoin becomes more mainstream and popular.

Source: FTX Breaks Exchange Record: Raises $900 Million With $18B Valuation – Fintechs.fi