The chief executive of Seychelles-based crypto exchange FTX reportedly says that the company is ready to make multi-billion dollar investments to expand its operations.
According to Bloomberg, FTX CEO and co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried says that the company has set aside over $2 billion from fundraising events to finance investments in other firms.
“FTX is a profitable company. You can look at the amount that we’ve raised over the last year or two – it’s a few billion dollars. That gives maybe a sense of where we are in terms of cash that was explicitly viewed from a potential acquisition angle.”
Though he mentions no specifics as to which companies FTX plans to make investments in or acquire, both Bankman-Friend and FTX have been on a spending spree as of late.
Last year, FTX purchased the naming rights to the American Airlines Arena, home of the NBA’s Miami Heat, renaming it to the FTX Arena. The firm also purchased LedgerX, which became its US derivatives branch.
In April, the company a substantial stake in the IEX Group, a New York-based stock exchange platform.
Bankman-Fried himself recently revealed that he bought a 7.6% stake in Robinhood after the trading app giant’s stock price fell 90% from its all-time high of $85 in August.
According to Bankman-Fried, FTX is looking to acquire companies with substantial user bases or ones that have expertise in fields FTX isn’t too knowledgeable in.
“[Acquisitions are] always something that we’re going to be open to and keeping our ears to the ground on.”
He also says that FTX is interested in companies that are undervalued.
“If it’s cheap, sure.”
