Cryptocurrency firm FTX is seeking to raise up to $1 billion U.S. in a new private funding round that could value the company at $32 billion U.S., according to multiple media reports.
The latest capital raise is the first new funding round for FTX since it secured $400 million U.S. this past January. Existing investors in FTX include SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 and Tiger Global.
In recent months, FTX has bought the assets of several distressed cryptocurrency lenders and exchanges that have fallen into bankruptcy protection. The company is a privately held cryptocurrency exchange and headquartered in the Bahamas.
In July, FTX signed a deal to buy troubled crypto lender BlockFi. FTX also offered to buy bankrupt cryptocurrency brokerage Voyager Digital, although that offer was rejected.
The fresh capital raised now will be put towards more dealmaking, according to media reports.
FTX’s revenue soared more than 1,000% last year to $1.02 billion U.S. from $89 million U.S. in 2020, according to investor information leaked by the company.
FTX earned net income of $388 million U.S. in 2021, up from just $17 million U.S. in 2020. However, those earnings were achieved before the cryptocurrency market tanked this year.
Since the end of March this year, the prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) are both down more than 60%, and numerous cryptocurrency firms have been forced into liquidation.
