FTX CEO says, Buying Financial Giants like Goldman Sachs or CME is “Not Out of the Question”

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX continues to ramp up its marketing efforts, which started last year with the acquisition of crypto tracking site Blockfolio. But FTX’s goals are much higher, and traditional giants are not out of its reach, as revealed by its founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried in an interview with FT, where he said, if the cryptocurrency exchange becomes bigger than Coinbase and Binance, then it could consider buying financial institutions like CME Group and Goldman Sachs.

“If we are the largest exchange, (buying Goldman Sachs and CME) It’s not out of the question at all.”

Last month, he told Nikkie Asia, a sister publication of FTX, that the latest funding round, which will raise “mid-hundreds of millions” primarily from institutions, will pump the exchange’s valuation to $20 billion, up from just $1 billion a year ago. The fresh capital will be used for acquisitions (M&As) and expand the company’s reach. The exchange also has a native token FTT, a $2.5 billion market cap coin trading at $28.65. Bankman-Fried himself is worth an estimated $8.7 billion, according to Forbes. Goldman Sachs’ current valuation is nearly $128 billion, and CME is worth about $76 billion. Meanwhile, the rival exchange Coinbase is currently valued at $76 billion after briefly going past $100 billion on its Nasdaq debut.

Regulators Care About Crypto

When it comes to going public, something that gains traction during bull markets, Bankamn-Fried said they are considering listing FTX on the traditional exchange but have no such plans so far.

“We are in a fortunate position that we don’t need capital because we don’t need it … On the other hand, listing has potential significant benefits, such as brand awareness.” “We are not actively looking for a list, but we want to be in a position to move forward if necessary.”

According to Bankman-Fried, traditional financial markets and cryptocurrencies can co-exist, and though it will take years for a global regulatory framework to emerge, regulation is inevitable.

“The biggest change we’ve seen last year is that crypto is big enough for regulators to care about.”

Gaining New Access To Institutional Funds

Founded in 2019, FTX is mainly a composition of large traders who are “trading tens of millions of dollars a day.” This year, the exchange has been amplifying its marketing efforts through several partnerships. First, FTX joined hands with Miami-Dade County and the Heat, MLB, eSPorts team TSM and got Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen on board. The crypto exchange is also famous for listing tokenized stocks, especially meme-stocks, adding lumber futures, allowing people to make a bet on whether the Tokyo Olympics will be held, or if Donald Trump will retake the presidency in 2024, and launching pre-IPO contracts among many others. This week, the exchange also joined Copper co.’s ClearLoop settlement trading network to gain new access to institutional funds. FTX is the largest exchange to join the ClearLoop network. Copper’s client base includes over 300 institutional asset managers who will now be able to trade FTX’s products with their funds secured within Copper’s platform, which offers custody, prime brokerage, and settlement services across 250 digital assets. “Our clients are some of the largest hedge funds in the world,” Dmitry Tokarev, founder, and CEO of Copper, said in an interview. “For these guys, this is absolutely the Holy Grail.”