FTX

FTX is a bankrupt cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform launched on May 8, 2019, which filed for bankruptcy on November 11, 2022. It was founded by Alameda Research owner Sam Bankman-Fried. 
FTX's bankruptcy was triggered by a cascading series of events begun when CoinDesk published a story that disclosed the contents of the balance sheet of privately held Alameda Research, which showed large holdings of FTX's proprietary token FTT.
In May of 2024, it was reported that FTX had amassed billions of dollars more than it needed to cover what customers lost in the November 2022 collapse, meaning the customers could receive full recoveries, plus interest, a rare outcome in a US bankruptcy. FTX benefitted from a strong rally in cryptocurrencies, including Solana, a token heavily backed by Sam Bankman-Fried. The company had also sold a number of other assets, such as its stake in Anthropic. When it finishes selling all of its assets, FTX will have as much as $16.3 billion in cash to distribute, according to a company statement.
In October 2024, FTX won court approval to fully repay customers whose digital assets were locked on the platform when it imploded in 2022. This could potentially net shareholders in the fraud-tainted exchange a portion of $1 billion in seized assets. 
== Binance Investment ==
Binance purchased shares in FTX in December 2019 and took a long-term position in the platform's FTX Token. U.S. investors are prohibited from accessing FTX but may conduct transactions though FTX.US, which is overseen by the U.S. CFTC. 
At the time of its December 2019 investment, Binance said that FTX had an average daily volume of nearly half a billion U.S. dollars across all of its products. 
In August 2020, FTX acquired Blockfolio, an app for retail investing consumers that allows users to keep track of the value of their cryptocurrency portfolios. 
In July 2021, FTX raised $900 million, one of the largest rounds of financing for a digital assets start-up, despite the recent drop in the price of bitcoin. The money was raised from more than 60 investors, including the venture capital firms Paradigm and Sequoia Capital and the private equity group Thoma Bravo, valuing the business at $18bn, FTX said.
== Products and Services ==
* Cryptocurrency trading
* FTT token
=== Futures ===
FTX offers approximately 60 "futures" contracts which can either have expiration dates or be perpetual contracts. All of the contracts are priced in U.S. dollars against a cryptocurrency or an index of cryptocurrencies. The platform offers daily, weekly, and quarterly-expiring contracts on the net price movement in the U.S. dollar value of the underlying cryptocurrency between the start and end of the period as well as leveraged directional (up, down) contracts. 
In April 2020, FTX launched futures on oil expiring monthly tied to the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmark. The futures expire to the spot price of WTI crude oil, plus $100; at the time of the launch, the nearby month of crude oil futures on the CME Group's New York Mercantile Exchange was trading at negative price levels for the first time in history. Users have to pass FTX’s KYC level 1 to be eligible to trade, and they can't be residents of the U.S., the U.K., the EU, the UAE, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Cambodia, Turkey and China. The exchange's CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said that FTX was planning on launching a digital token based on the oil futures.
=== Options ===
FTX introduced options on January 13, 2020, listing puts and calls on bitcoin with a variety of expirations from one-day later to approximately five-and-a-half months later. The options are priced in U.S. dollars. 
=== Binary options ===
On May 15, 2021, CEO Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted that FTX was offering binary options that would pay out if Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro were re-elected in 2022.
== FTT token ==
The native token of the FTX blockchain is the FTT. The company has conducted at least three rounds of issuances of what the company refers to as its "utility" token. FTT can be used as collateral for trading on the platform and pays out a share of profits on the insurance fund that supports futures trading. Depending on the amount held, holdings of at least $100 worth provide discounts on trading fees. 
In March 2020, FTX sold up to 15 million FT tokens which conveyed an equity interest in the company to its holders. Tokens were sold for $2.00 per token. There are no voting rights attached to the tokens.
== People == 
* Sam Bankman-Fried, Founder and former CEO
* John Ray, who took over as CEO when FTX collapsed
== New platforms ==
=== FTX.US ===
FTX launched a U.S.-based cryptocurrency trading platform called FTX.US on May 22, 2020. The platform listed pairs based on bitcoin, Litecoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash, Paxos Gold and U.S. dollar Tether. Americans are barred from trading on FTX's main derivatives exchange due to regulations.
=== Serum === 
In late July 2020, FTX announced the introduction of a DeFi driven trading platform for derivatives called Serum. According to the white paper for the new platform, derivatives contracts will be smart contracts run on the blockchain from the Solana Project, whose native coin is called SOL. The platform is designed to be "trustless" by each party depositing collateral and having automatically implemented penalties for defaulting on contract performance.
=== Tokenized stocks === 
Saying that the company wanted to broaden access to stock trading for customers who face barriers to markets, Bankman-Fried announced that FTX would launch a marketplace for bitcoin- and stablecoin-priced U.S.-listed equities like Tesla and Amazon. The stocks are to be "tokenized" and available in fractions of whole shares. The launch date was not given but registrations for trading were opened on October 29, 2020 when the platform was announced. FTX equity trading is not available to U.S. residents.
== Partnerships ==
FTX signed a 19-year, $135 million, deal with the Miami Heat on June 4th, 2021, that rebranded the team's stadium to the "FTX Arena." This re-branding and official partnership also netted FTX with in-stadium advertising and involvement with digital content series, promotions, contests, etc.
Later, on June 7th, 2021, FTX signed another naming deal with esports organization TSM, for $210 million, to change their name to TSM FTX. The esports team reportedly used the funds to scout new talent and open new international offices. Riot Games, a tournament organizer, announced that the team would not be allowed to display the FTX logo or use their new name at Riot Games-run tournaments because cryptocurrency exchanges are classified as a sponsor that carries activation restrictions.
Major League Baseball announced on June 23rd, 2021, that they have partnered with FTX to make it the official cryptocurrency exchange of the MLB. FTX also received rights to use player highlights in promotional material and worldwide marketing rights for MLB marks, logos, and events. This deal was the first partnership between an cryptocurrency exchange and a professional sports league.
American football player Tom Brady and model Gisele Bündchen became ambassadors for FTX in late June, 2021. The two took an equity stake in FTX and Bündchen became an environmental and social-initiatives advisor to the exchange.
FTX partnered with another sports organization, Cal Athletics, on August 23rd, 2021, to rename their stadium to FTX Field at California Memorial Stadium. The $14.5 million deal also gave FTX certain branding rights and launched a community service platform.
 
== References ==
Category:cryptocurrencies
Category:derivatives
Category:CryptoMarketsWiki