The news of the purchase of Liquid Group by FTX came about 24 hours after the crypto exchange generated $400 million in a Series C financing round.
Crypto exchange FTX is acquiring Liquid Group along with all its operating subsidiaries. Liquid Group’s operating subsidiaries include Quoine Corporation and Quoine Pte. in Singapore. Notably, Quoine was one of the first crypto exchange companies that the FSA registered in 2017, and it operates under Liquid Group. Quoine received a Type 1 Financial Instruments business regulation from the FSA in October 2021. After that, the company continued giving its customers access to a platform for derivatives trading. Now that FTX is now acquiring Liquid, Quoine will gradually integrate the products of the exchange company into its own offering. In addition, all the Japanese customers that FTX currently owns will be migrated to the Quoine platform as a result of the latest deal.
Also, FTX and Liquid have agreed that all FTX’s existing Japanese customers will have access to Liquid’s services in compliance with Japanese laws. Although the companies did not reveal the terms of the deal, the acquisition will close in March 2022. By then, FTX will also move all its existing users to Quoine. All FTX’s Japanese customers will receive an email from the company that will educate them more on the changes. Upon a successful acquisition, FTX and Liquid are expected to work together to provide products and liquidity across Japanese and global markets. Both retail and institutional investors in the markets will enjoy the new offering.
FTX Acquires Liquid Global after Raising $400M in Funding Round
The news of the purchase of Liquid Group by FTX came about 24 hours after the crypto exchange generated $400 million in a Series C financing round. Following the funding round, FTX’s valuation increased to $32 billion after being valued at $25 billion about four months ago. The round was led by SoftBank, with participation from Tiger Global, Paradigm, and Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan Board.
FTX continues to grow, with its American affiliate FTX US, recently securing $400 million. FTX US had its first-ever funding round last week, after which it was valued at $8 billion. Both FTX and its US affiliates have been taking steps towards expansion. FTX bought crypto portfolio tracking app Blockfolio in August 2020 for $150 million. FTX US also acquired crypto derivatives exchange LedgerX in August 2021.
Last year, several mergers and acquisitions occurred in the crypto industry. Just in 20201, crypto firms acquired 201 companies, crossing over the 85 recorded in 2020. Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of FTX, plans to acquire traditional financial institutions in the near future. According to the 29-year-old CEO, buying established financial service providers like Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) or CME Group (NASDAQ: CME) will not be a challenge once FTX overtakes Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) and Binance.
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