Crypto exchange FTX has disclosed that its revenue skyrocketed to more than 1000% last year courtesy of the bull market that saw Bitcoin soaring to a record peak of $69,000, and pushing the company’s revenue from just under $90 million in 2020 to balloon to over $1 billion the following year.
Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX CEO, has confirmed a CNBC story that the company’s income grew by 1,000% as a result of a rising crypto market and a slew of acquisitions. The gain was attributed to the company’s global trading operation.
CNBC said that over $272 million in operating income was added to the crypto exchange’s balance sheet in 2021, up from $14 million the previous year. FTX’s activity during the first three months of 2022 reportedly generated approximately $270 million in revenue.
According to forecasts, FTX might make up to $1.1 billion this year. Documents also revealed that at the end of 2021, the company held nearly $2.5 billion in cash and had profit margins of 27%.
The onset of crypto winter in the second quarter did not significantly impact the cryptocurrency exchange, but instead entrenched it as the lender in times of turbulence.
FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. Image: TechCrunch
Last month, Bankman-Fried stated that emphasizing the recovery of clients’ money implies that it is permissible to make a “moderately poor” deal when rescuing failing cryptocurrency companies, as such ventures are not always about optimizing return on investment.
FTX was founded in 2019 by Bankman-Fried, a former quant trader on Wall Street. Initially, FTX offered futures trading with altcoins, but quickly expanded into other sectors, including spot trading. The US division of a global exchange began commission-free stock trading services in the country in July this year.
FTX has acquired a number of crypto startups over the past year to position itself as one of the country’s largest crypto derivatives platforms, coinciding with a number of investments in 2022, including the fintech company Liquid.
In addition, the audited data revealed that the exchange spent around 15% of its overall revenue on advertising and marketing in the previous year. Its net margin for the year was 27%, but it was about half when expenditures were excluded.
FTX aims to provide US residents with greater access to crypto derivatives. In addition, SBF has been seeking to acquire underperforming digital asset companies and solidify his organization’s brand in the wake of this year’s market downturn.
Crypto total market cap at $998 billion on the daily chart | Source: TradingView.com Featured image from DropTown, Chart from TradingView.com
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