Ben Strack

FTX is now putting its trust in new CEO John J. Ray III — brought in years ago to oversee the liquidation of collapsed energy company Enron following its accounting scandal — as it seeks next steps following bankruptcy.



The bankruptcy process could take several months, one bankruptcy lawyer said, as the exchange and its affiliates formulate recovery plans. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried — who resigned as FTX’s CEO Friday morning — tweeted Friday he would seek to give a user recovery update “ASAP.”&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">5) I&#39;m piecing together all of the details, but I was shocked to see things unravel the way they did earlier this week. I will, soon, write up a more complete post on the play by play, but I want to make sure that I get it right when I do.&mdash; SBF (@SBF_FTX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SBF_FTX/status/1591089330323611648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



About an hour after crypto exchange FTX said it — and roughly 130 affiliated companies — <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/news/ftx-ceo-bankman-fried-resigns-bankruptcy-proceedings-begin/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">had commenced Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings</a>, Bankman-Fried apologized in a series of tweets, putting faith behind Ray.



“This doesn&#8217;t necessarily have to mean the end for the companies or their ability to provide value and funds to their customers chiefly, and can be consistent with other routes,” he said. “Ultimately I&#8217;m optimistic that Mr. Ray and others can help provide whatever is best.”



The 134 companies filing for bankruptcy — <a href="https://www.docdroid.net/F0TqEsL/alameda-chapter-11-db-pdf#page=6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">included in this filing</a> — exclude subsidiaries Ledger X, FTX Digital Markets, FTX Australia Pty and FTX Express Pay, the company said.&nbsp;&nbsp;



A spokesperson at FTX’s public relations agency told Blockworks it was seeking to get in touch with the company’s new leadership.



Ray was making $1.2 million a year as a full-time Enron director in 2007, <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2007-11-04-0711030650-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the Chicago Tribune reported</a>. At the time, he was “seeking to wipe out the bankruptcy claims of institutions that bought Enron debt from banks that engaged in the alleged misconduct,” according to the publication.



The Chicago Tribune story notes that Ray started working at Chicago law firm Mayer Brown in 1984 before landing at Fruit of the Loom. He was general counsel for the apparel company when it filed for bankruptcy in 1999 and later took post-bankruptcy roles at Burlington Industries and Hayes Lemmerz International.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Bankman-Fried promises FTX ‘user recovery’ update post-bankruptcy</h3>



Bankman-Fried tweeted Friday morning that he hoped the bankruptcy process could bring transparency, trust and governance.&nbsp;



FTX users — some of whom said their <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/news/ftx-users-band-together-had-entire-net-worth-on-there-oops/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">entire net worth was tied up on the platform</a> — will be watching the bankruptcy process closely.&nbsp;



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“I&#8217;m going to work on giving clarity on where things are in terms of user recovery ASAP,” Bankman-Fried tweeted Friday.&nbsp;</blockquote>



Daniel Besikof, a partner at Loeb &amp; Loeb, told Blockworks that FTX’s bankruptcy means, in the short-term, that its customers likely will continue to be unable to withdraw from their accounts. The exchange halted withdrawals <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/news/ftx-re-enables-withdrawals-but-only-in-bahamas/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">for most users</a> Tuesday.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Longer term, it will depend on a number of things — most importantly, who owns or has claims against the coins, what coins are missing, and can those missing coins be recovered?” he said.&nbsp;



<a href="https://www.macco.group/pablo-bonjour" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pablo Bonjour</a>, a managing partner at restructuring firm Macco, said in an email that some of FTX’s subunits — such as FTX US — appear to be healthy and could have significant value coming out of restructuring.



“Crypto prices will continue to go lower with another wave of selling, but this opens the opportunity for other big exchanges to swoop in and pick up FTX US and other entities at discounted prices,” he added.&nbsp;



Bonjour said that following the bankruptcy filing, FTX is set to enter survival mode by cutting costs, negotiating extensions, cutting all new projects and getting a handle on their assets.



Besikof called FTX’s collapse “breathtakingly fast,” but noted that the bankruptcy process could take at least several months as the company formulates a plan that maximizes recoveries for its creditors.



FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings are not unique for the industry this year. <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/news/voyager-files-for-bankruptcy-days-after-freezing-withdrawals/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Voyager Digital</a> filed for bankruptcy in early July, while crypto lender Celsius <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/news/celsius-to-file-for-bankruptcy-imminently-report/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">initiated bankruptcy proceedings</a> about a week later in the aftermath of the collapse of Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Because of the strain FTX’s bankruptcy will have on a huge number of people, I assume FTX will seek to push the case forward as quickly as possible,” Besikof said. “But as customers have seen from Celsius, which filed in July and is not near conclusion, bankruptcy takes time.”



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What’s Next for FTX and its Customers After Bankruptcy Filing?

<div id="highlights-block_634004df07692" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Card allows users to make purchases using crypto at the 80 million merchant locations that accept Visa</li>
 <li>Product rollout in Latin America and Europe is planned by the end of 2022, with additional regions slated for next year</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Crypto exchange FTX is set to begin offering Visa debit cards to its customers internationally as part of an expansion to its global partnership with the payments giant.



Debit cards linked to a user’s FTX accounts are currently available in the US, as the company now intends to launch the offering in 40 more countries.



The exchange plans to roll out the FTX Card in Latin America before bringing it to Europe and Asia, Adam Jacobs, the company’s global head of payments, told Blockworks.



He declined to share additional details about the upcoming rollouts.



“We’re excited to partner with one of the world’s largest payment networks to give our users the ability to utilize their crypto to fund purchases at millions of merchants around the globe,” FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried said in a statement. “This card allows users to make use of their FTX crypto balances 24 hours a day, 365 days a year securely and with no administrative or processing fees.”



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/visa-partners-with-50-crypto-platforms-on-card-programs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Visa revealed in July 2021</a> it was partnering with 50 crypto platforms on card programs that allow users to convert and spend digital currency at 70 million merchants. FTX competitor Coinbase launched a Visa debit card linked to crypto accounts for users in the United Kingdom and European Union in 2019 and rolled it out to US customers earlier this year.



Gemini inked <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/gemini-mastercard-to-launch-crypto-rewards-card/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a similar partnership</a> with MasterCard in April 2021, to offer credit cards which allow customers to spend US dollars and earn cashback in their crypto of choice. But Gemini does not yet allow a customer’s exchange balance to be used to pay the monthly credit card balance.



Visa executives said in January that customers made $2.5 billion in payments with its crypto-linked cards in its fiscal first quarter of 2022. The payments company <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/visa-launches-crypto-advisory-unit/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">launched a crypto advisory practice</a> last December and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/visa-launches-program-for-nft-focused-entrepreneurs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a program for NFT-focused entrepreneurs</a> in March.



“We believe that digital currencies will have a lasting impact on the future of financial services and money movement,” Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s head of crypto, said in a statement. “We’re excited to partner with leading crypto exchanges like FTX to bring more flexibility and ease-of-use to the way people use their crypto.”



Cardholders will be able to use a crypto balance to fund purchases anywhere Visa is accepted. Crypto held within a user’s FTX account will automatically exchange the exact amount at the point of sale, according to the company.



“This is just the beginning of our global partnership with Visa,” Jacobs said. “We look forward to working with them…to make other aspects of Visa’s suite available to FTX cardholders.”



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FTX Seeks to Roll Out Crypto-Linked Visa Cards Globally

<div id="highlights-block_627eb64456f1c" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Bankman-Fried takes a 7.6% stake in investment tool Robinhood through Emergent Fidelity Technologies, of which he is the sole director and majority owner</li>
 <li>The purchased shares were worth roughly $605 million Friday afternoon</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



The head of crypto exchange FTX has bought a 7.6% stake in investing platform Robinhood.&nbsp;



Though Sam Bankman-Fried’s company was not involved in the deal, he has said FTX could participate in the next wave of upcoming mergers and acquisitions he predicts will take place.



Bankman-Fried, FTX’s founder and CEO, purchased roughly 56 million Robinhood shares, according to a recent <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001783879/000114036122018827/brhc10037465_sc13d.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">regulatory filing</a>, at a cost of roughly $648 million.&nbsp;



The shares were valued at around $605 million at 3:45 p.m. ET on Friday, up about 25% from the day before, but still less than the price he paid.&nbsp;



The buy was done through Emergent Fidelity Technologies, a company incorporated in Antigua and Barbuda, according to the document. Bankman-Fried is the majority owner of Emergent.



Bankman-Fried declined to comment today on the Robinhood deal, which did not involve FTX, but in a recent interview with Blockworks he said the difficult market conditions in the digital asset space could trigger a wave of M&amp;A activity.&nbsp;



“There’s going to be a ton of M&amp;A,” he said, adding that “it wouldn’t be totally shocking” for FTX to acquire some of the business of exchanges that are shrinking.



FTX’s US affiliate <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ftx-us-brings-crypto-derivatives-to-users-with-ledgerx-acquisition/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">last year bought</a> digital currency futures and options exchange LedgerX to bring crypto derivatives to its US user base. More recently, FTX <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ftx-acquires-liquid-group-expanding-presence-in-japan/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">revealed in February</a> it was set to acquire fintech firm Liquid Group in a bid to navigate Japan’s crypto exchange laws.



A Robinhood spokesperson also declined to comment, instead pointing to a Twitter thread the company posted Thursday.&nbsp;



“We’re doubling down on creating a multi-generational company where customers can build wealth for their generations,” the tweet said. “Of course we think it is an attractive investment too. We have the best customer base, are introducing great new products, and we have the team to deliver.”



Robinhood reported a net loss of $392 million in the first quarter.&nbsp;



The company’s net revenues were $299 million in the first three months of 2022, down from $522 million in the first quarter of 2021. Transaction-based revenues were $218 million, about half of what they were in the year-ago period. Crypto transactions accounted for $54 million of those revenues, down from $88 million in 2021’s first quarter.



Dan Keeler contributed to this story.

FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Spots Opportunity in Troubled Markets

<div id="highlights-block_627eaa8f4a75f" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Blockchain platform Infinite Arcade hires Visa’s former senior director of global marketing</li>
 <li>Bitstamp promotes its Europe chief executive to global CEO</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Binance hired Joshua Eaton, a former deputy US attorney in the Northern District of California, as its deputy general counsel.



Before becoming an attorney at the Department of Justice, Eaton was a line prosecutor and senior staff advisor in the US Army. In both roles, he offered counsel on a range of complex operations, investigations, litigation and policies.&nbsp;



Eaton said he became interested in crypto while working at the US attorney’s office, where he realized the importance of preventing bad actors from abusing blockchain technology for personal gain.



He will now lead the largest crypto exchange’s legal affairs group, supporting global compliance, investigations and law enforcement coordination activities.&nbsp;



Binance also revealed its appointment of Jarek Jakubcek as the company’s head of intelligence and investigations for the Asia Pacific region.&nbsp;



Jakubcek previously worked for seven years as a cryptocurrency specialist in Europol Cybercrime Centre’s dark web team. Prior to Europol, he spent about five years at An Garda Siochana, Ireland’s National Police and Security Service.



At Binance, Jarek will work with law enforcement agencies to coordinate the takedown of malicious crypto actors.



The US affiliate of crypto exchange FTX hired Marissa MacDonald to be the chief compliance officer of FTX Trust Company — FTX.US&#8217;s New York division that’s pending regulatory approval.&nbsp;&nbsp;



FTX.US also disclosed it applied for a trust charter with the New York Department of Financial Services to operate in the state.



MacDonald most recently worked as chief compliance officer at Fidelity Digital Assets. She began her career at Ernst &amp; Young.



Metaplex Studios hired former Paxos interim chief marketing officer Julie Mossler as its chief marketing officer to expand the range of projects built on the <a href="https://www.metaplex.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Metaplex protocol</a>. 



In less than a year, the Metaplex protocol has been used to mint more than 11 million NFTs, which have generated $2.6 billion in sales, according to the organization.



Before working at crypto company Paxos, Mossler was head of global marketing and brand at Waze and also served as head of global communications at Groupon.



Crypto exchange Bitstamp appointed JB Graftieaux as its new global CEO after he joined the company in May 2021 as its Europe chief executive.



He succeeds Julian Sawyer, who decided to pursue other opportunities, the company said Monday.



Graftieaux previously held executive roles at eBay and PayPal. He was also Bitstamp’s chief compliance officer between 2014 and 2016, helping the company obtain regulatory licenses. &nbsp;



Asia-based digital asset financial services group HashKey Group appointed David Leahy as chief operating officer of the company’s exchange business and WK Chim as senior advisor to the board.



Leahy joins from JPMorgan in Hong Kong, where he was most recently a managing director and head of the Financial Sponsors Group for Asia. He previously worked in senior alternative investments roles at Credit Suisse.



Chim, who will focus on providing independent assessment and advice on the risk frameworks and policies across HashKey, currently serves as independent non-executive director of OCBC Wing Hang Bank and chairs the bank’s risk management committee.



Blockchain platform Infinite Arcade, which is focused on bringing the mobile games industry into the metaverse, appointed Andrew Dubatowka as a core contributor of product marketing.&nbsp;



Dubatowka previously spent four years as a senior director of global marketing at financial services giant Visa and has also worked in senior roles at IPG Mediabrands and AdColony. He has worked with brands and clients such as Intel, Johnson &amp; Johnson, Google, Pandora, Charles Schwab and Wells Fargo.



“The project is all about a firm belief in two things: the benefits that blockchain technology can bring to the games industry; and, through these benefits, that gaming will be the ramp that onboards hundreds of millions of people into web3,” Dubatowka said in a statement.



Canada-based virtual currency brokerage Secure Digital Markets (SDM) said this week Wall Street veteran Alan Mittleman joined the firm on May 2 as chief operating officer.



Mittleman most recently worked at NatWest Markets as its global head of USD fixed income trading. From 2011 to 2015, he was global head of USD rates trading for Société Générale. He held other roles at Bear Stearns, Credit Suisse First Boston and Price Waterhouse.



Zachary Friedman, SDM’s co-founder and former COO, is now the company’s chief strategy officer.



Crypto financial services company EQONEX hired Daniel Ling as chief financial officer and a member of its executive committee.



The move comes as Paul Ewing, the company’s previous CFO, was appointed as chief operating officer (COO) following former COO Andrew Eldon’s resignation to pursue other opportunities.



Ling had recently been appointed to EQONEX’s board of directors as part of the company’s strategic partnership with payments technology company Bifinity, where Ling was director of strategy.&nbsp;



Before Bifinity, he was CFO at Pujiang International Group and also previously worked at Bridgewater Associates, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Singapore Exchange and ShoreVest Capital.

Latest in Crypto Hiring: Binance, FTX Make Key Additions

<div id="highlights-block_627ab46b155ca" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The company will provide $500 per month, financial literacy education, a zero-fee bank account and a Visa debit card to 100 Chicagoans</li>
 <li>As for future programs, FTX.US and the city are exploring how they could support Chicago residents with global remittances</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



The US affiliate of Bahamas-based crypto exchange FTX has made Chicago its headquarters and is set to pilot a program focused on supporting the city’s underbanked communities.



FTX.US President Brett Harrison told Blockworks some of the largest exchanges, trading firms, hedge funds, fintechs and venture capital firms are based in Chicago, making it an ideal — if competitive — spot for recruiting.&nbsp;



The company is aiming to offer financial relief and economic mobility to residents in the city’s less-affluent Austin, Englewood and West Garfield Park neighborhoods.&nbsp;



FTX.US is partnering with nonprofit organization Equity and Transformation (EAT) in a one-year program to offer $500 per month in supplemental income, financial literacy education, a zero-fee bank account and a Visa debit card to 100 Chicagoans.



The move follows FTX.US’s <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ftxus-focusing-on-derivatives/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">closing of a $400 million Series A round</a> in January, which valued the company around $8 billion. 



The initiative builds off of the <a href="https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/resilient-communities-pilot/home.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot</a>, a $31.5 million commitment from the city to combat pervasive poverty.



The program, which provides 5,000 Chicagoans with $500 per month for one year, is the largest municipal cash assistance program in the US, according to Samir Mayekar, Chicago’s deputy mayor of economic and neighborhood development. &nbsp;



“To be focusing truly on making their products and services accessible to those in need in Chicago, it’s a very innovative way to feature some of the unique benefits of blockchain technology in a way that can make a difference on the ground here in neighborhoods,” Mayekar told Blockworks.



An academic partner will conduct a research study examining the effect of the monthly $500 payments and financial inclusion services on residents&#8217; financial stability and economic mobility.



“We’ll be studying this program and seeing if this is a viable, scaling program to continue in this city in a larger way,” Harrison said.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Phase 2</h3>



Going forward, FTX and the city are looking into an additional program that would focus on how it could support Chicago residents with global remittances, which could launch before year end.&nbsp;



Chicago is an “immigrant friendly” city with many residents sending money to families in other countries, Mayekar said. He added such transactions can carry fees of 20% or more.



“Looking at a remittance pilot and leveraging the kind of power of the FTX platform to have basically no-fee cash transfers across borders where you’re also able to kind of hedge from volatile currencies, this could be incredibly powerful,” Mayekar said.



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FTX Rolls Out Program To Support Underbanked Chicago Communities

Casey Wagner

<div id="highlights-block_62741aaf6bd13" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>US agencies can’t agree on jurisdiction over the cryptocurrency industry, and it’s slowing progress, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said</li>
 <li>Countries that fail to act on crypto regulation risk losing business, experts warned</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



There’s a power struggle in Washington, and it’s slowing crypto’s progress, Sam Bankman-Fried, head of Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange FTX, said.&nbsp;



At the center of the battle is the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the SEC, which have long been vying for control over the digital asset industry. If the agencies could agree on who is responsible for licensing cryptocurrency exchanges, significant progress could be made, Bankman-Fried said.&nbsp;



“That alone would solve, like, 60% of the problem,” he told Blockworks.&nbsp;



The CFTC, created in 1974 to oversee commodity futures and derivatives trading, sees digital currencies as commodities.



While the SEC says the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, bitcoin and ether, are not securities, that has not stopped the agency from cracking down on other tokens and initial coin offerings, a capital raising tool the SEC sees as an unregistered security offering.&nbsp;



It’s not only an agency-level issue, either, Ron Hammond, director of government affairs for the crypto advocacy group <a href="https://theblockchainassociation.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Blockchain Association</a>, said. Congressional committees are jockeying to see where their jurisdiction lies, and individual lawmakers are taking stronger stances around crypto-related issues.&nbsp;



“It’s all over DC — it&#8217;s kind of more like a power grab right now,” Hammond said.&nbsp;



Even so, Bankman-Fried, who has made the maximum $5,800 donation to individual candidates about a dozen times to members of Congress from both parties, is confident that some sort of guidance could be coming in the near future.&nbsp;



“We’re not actually in a place with more federal oversight than we were in a year ago,” he said. “We’re in a place where there are concrete proposals that could be enacted very soon that are being seriously considered.”



Crypto regulation seems to be in limbo around the world, too, industry members said.&nbsp;



“For a lot of countries, we&#8217;re waiting to see where things will go,” Nick Du Cros, head of compliance and regulatory affairs at CoinShares, said. “It seems that through mechanisms like the G7 and the G20, the big countries are coming together, and they have a roadmap and international standards, but I also think there&#8217;s domestic political pressure…and that&#8217;s when you might start having differences between different countries.”&nbsp;



Vastly different policies around the world means countries risk losing out on business, Du Cros said, a scenario FTX has faced firsthand.&nbsp;



The exchange, formerly headquartered in Hong Kong, launched its US-based affiliate, FTX.US, in 2020 because US regulations blocked its services. FTX.US is still not available to New York residents because of the state’s bitlicense policy, as well as the lengthy approval process that comes with securing one.



International regulators coming forward with clear guidelines is likely going to help the entire industry advance, Bankman-Fried said.&nbsp;



“It gives a template for other countries to use, and from a competitive aspect, it creates competitive pressure for jurisdictions to roll out frameworks of their own,” he said.



Dan Keeler contributed reporting.



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CFTC, SEC Cooperation Key to Solving Crypto’s Regulatory Woes, FTX CEO says

<div id="highlights-block_61f7fe3b60fa5" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said the exchange will seek to offer more products, gain additional licenses</li>
 <li>The same investors that put money toward the exchange’s US affiliate’s Series A round last week took part in FTX’s latest fundraise</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



FTX can’t stop raising money.



The crypto derivative exchanges has raised a fresh $400 million, with the Series C round raising the company’s valuation to $32 billion — and marking FTX’s third raise in the last six months.&nbsp;



The crypto derivatives exchange had <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ftx-closes-900m-series-b-round-valuing-exchange-at-18b/">raised $900 million</a> in July, and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/sam-bankman-frieds-ftx-raises-precisely-420-69m/">investors put about $420 million</a> more into the company in October. While the July funding round valued FTX at $18 billion, the raise closed in October put the company’s valuation at $25 billion.



FTX’s user base has grown 60% since the October raise, according to the company, and its average daily trading volume increased by 40%, reaching roughly $14 billion in daily volume.&nbsp;



The latest $400 million funding round will go toward adding products and expanding the exchange’s global footprint with additional licenses, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said in a statement.



Acquisitions are expected to be the largest use of the funds, a spokesperson told Blockworks, and potential product plans include building on its consumer financial app. The FTX representative declined to comment about specific licenses and regions under consideration.



Bankman-Fried added that FTX remains focused on working with regulators to offer access to digital assets in a compliant manner.&nbsp;&nbsp;



FTX’s US affiliate, FTX.US, closed <a href="http://v">&nbsp;a $400 million raise</a> last week, which valued the company at $8 billion. FTX.US President Brett Harrison told Blockworks at the time that the business’s priorities include building its derivatives business and evaluating acquisition opportunities.



Some of the investors that participated in the FTX.US round also took part in its parent company’s fundraise, including Temasek, Paradigm, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, NEA, IVP, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Steadview Capital, Tiger Global and Insight Partners.



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Crypto Exchange FTX Now Valued at $32B After Third Fundraise in Six Months

<div id="highlights-block_a9cb6a9c46837cefff24a57a3a462f2a" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Ryan Salame, a former OTC head at Alameda Research, becomes CEO Bahama-based FTX Digital Markets and will lead business’s expansion</li>
 <li>50 FTX employees have requested to transfer to the location, and the company looks to hire Bahamians to serve in finance, marketing and software development roles</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



A subsidiary of the owner and operator of crypto exchange FTX.COM is now registered by the Securities Commission of the Bahamas as a digital assets business, the company announced Monday, which will allow it to expand its platform in the region.&nbsp;



Bahamian-based FTX Digital Markets, which offers users access to FTX’s derivatives, options and volatility products, has been registered under the Digital Asset Registered Exchanges, or DARE, Act.



“We are committed to maintaining a close working relationship with local regulators so that together we can navigate putting a comprehensive regulatory framework in place to help promote the growth of this nascent asset class,” FTX Founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said in a statement.



Ryan Salame has been appointed as the CEO of FTX Digital Markets and will be responsible for leading their local initiatives. Prior to taking on this new role, Salame had been working at Alameda Research since November 2019, according to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryansalame/?originalSubdomain=bs" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">his LinkedIn profile</a>.&nbsp;



Alameda Research is a quantitative cryptocurrency trading firm and liquidity provider that manages more than $70 million in digital assets and trades roughly $1 billion per day across thousands of coins, altcoins and their derivatives. Based in Hong Kong, Salame was the firm’s head of OTC for the APAC region.&nbsp;



Before working at Alameda, Salame spent about two years on the crypto OTC trading desk at fintech firm Circle, most recently covering Asia liquidity.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/2021-09-21-Bahamas-location-label-1024x668.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-8287" width="840" height="547" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/2021-09-21-Bahamas-location-label-1024x668.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/2021-09-21-Bahamas-location-label-1024x668.jpg?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/2021-09-21-Bahamas-location-label-1024x668.jpg?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/2021-09-21-Bahamas-location-label-1024x668.jpg?w=394 394w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/2021-09-21-Bahamas-location-label-1024x668.jpg?w=400 400w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/2021-09-21-Bahamas-location-label-1024x668.jpg?w=336 336w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/2021-09-21-Bahamas-location-label-1024x668.jpg?w=80 80w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/2021-09-21-Bahamas-location-label-1024x668.jpg?w=1392 1392w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Bahamas consists of some 700 islands, cays, and islets in the Atlantic Ocean</figcaption></figure>



FTX Digital Markets will be building out its office presence in the Bahamas to support the 50 FTX employees who have requested to transfer to that location and the new employees they plan to hire locally before the end of the year, a spokesperson told Blockworks. Plans are in place to hire Bahamians to serve in finance, marketing and software development roles.



The FTX affiliate has so far donated $120,000 to the local community with plans to donate $1 million over the next 12 months, the representative added. The initial donations were mainly focused on education, but the company is exploring climate and other charitable opportunities.&nbsp;



“The relationship we have fostered with local regulators culminating with us being authorized under the framework offered through the DARE Act, gives me confidence that we’ll be able to work closely with regulators to make sure our offerings are compliant in multiple jurisdictions,” Salame said in a statement.



The firm did not immediately comment on specific initiatives Salame would be leading.&nbsp;



The push to expand its footprint in the Bahamas comes as the company has been looking to build out its offerings in the US.&nbsp;FTX <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ftx-closes-900m-series-b-round-valuing-exchange-at-18b/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">raised $900 million</a> for its Series B round in July, valuing the company at $18 billion, and it <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ftx-us-brings-crypto-derivatives-to-users-with-ledgerx-acquisition/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced late last month</a> that it is set to acquire the parent company of digital currency futures and options exchange <a href="https://www.ledgerx.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LedgerX</a> as a way to bring crypto derivatives to its US user base.



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