FTX is acquiring Japanese crypto exchange Liquid

Crypto exchange FTX is set to acquire Japan’s Liquid Group and its operating subsidiaries, one of which runs a licensed crypto exchange in the country.

Liquid Group announced the news on Wednesday, saying that FTX is acquiring Quoine Corporation and Quoine Pte. in Singapore. Quoine was one of the first crypto exchanges registered by Japan’s financial regulator in 2017 and operates under the Liquid brand.

The terms of the deal haven’t been disclosed, but Liquid was valued at more than $1 billion in its first investment round in 2019. The deal is expected to close next month, subject to customary closing conditions.

FTX is already familiar with Liquid. Last August, Liquid suffered a nearly $100-million hack, and FTX provided $120 million in debt financing.

Once the acquisition is completed, Quoine will start integrating FTX’s products and services into its own platform, and FTX’s existing Japanese customers will be migrated to Quoine’s platform.

FTX and Liquid expect to work together to serve retail and institutional customers in Japan and globally.

The news comes a day after FTX announced that it has raised $400 million in a Series C funding round and is now valued at $32 billion. Last week, FTX’s American affiliate, FTX US, also raised $400 million in its first-ever funding round at a valuation of $8 billion. 

Both FTX and FTX US have been acquiring companies lately. In August 2020, FTX acquired crypto portfolio management app Blockfolio for $150 million. FTX US recently completed the acquisition of crypto derivatives exchange LedgerX.

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has ambitions to acquire traditional financial giants Goldman Sachs CME Group one day. He recently told The Financial Times that once FTX overtakes rivals Coinbase and Binance, acquiring Goldman and CME is not out of the question at all.

The mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity is on the rise in the crypto space. Last year, crypto companies acquired 201 companies, higher than 2020’s 85 count. Crypto M&A volume surpassed $6 billion last year, according to The Block Research. Here are crypto’s biggest M&A deals, most of which occurred last year.

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Source: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/132746/ftx-liquid-acquisition-japan-crypto-exchange?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss