FTX.US President: Crypto Derivatives are 2022 Priority

Company looks to build on 12,000% user growth in 2021 after $400 million funding round

article-image

Brett Harrison, President, FTX.US

share

key takeaways

  • FTX.US’s first external funding round — including participation from Paradigm, Temasek, NEA and Multicoin Capital— values the company at $8 billion
  • Company could look to acquire companies as a way to access their users, gain licenses, president says

Fresh off a hefty funding round, the US affiliate of crypto exchange FTX is looking to build its derivatives business as the company eyes acquisitions to bolster its user base. 

FTX.US closed a $400 million Series A funding round Wednesday, valuing the company at about $8 billion. 

Participants in the round include Paradigm, Temasek, NEA, Multicoin Capital, Tribe Capital, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Greenoaks Capital, Steadview Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

“There was such interest that we felt it was a good time to fully capitalize the entity and establish ourselves with the public-facing raise and valuation — and be able to acquire funds to take our business to the next level,” FTX.US President Brett Harrison told Blockworks. 

FTX.US’s users increased from less than 10,000 at the beginning of 2021 to roughly 1.2 million at the end of the year, Harrison said. 

Spot crypto traded on the exchange last year totaled $67 billion. Its total average daily volume grew 608% over the last 12 months as peak daily volume hit $812 million in November. 

Making derivatives a priority 

Crypto derivatives are essential to the exchange’s growth plans this year, Harrison said. The company in August acquired digital currency futures and options exchange LedgerX, now known as FTX US Derivatives.   

FTX.US has applied to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to offer bitcoin and ether futures to retail and institutional customers. 

Former CFTC commissioner Mark Wetjen joined the company last year as head of policy and regulatory strategy. FTX.US also recently added a board of directors — a prerequisite of the CFTC permitting the exchange to offer leveraged trading. 

The business is also trying to increase the reach of the NFT marketplace it launched in October

“There’s a lot of potential to be able to integrate with various blockchain gaming and other metaverse companies that are looking to use exchange technology as the backend of their platforms,” the FTX.US president said.

FTX.US could look to acquire companies to tap into their users, according to Harrison, who highlighted  FTX’s buy of portfolio tracker Blockfolio. The business may also look to acquisitions to gain certain licenses.

“With FTX US Derivatives, it was a faster process to acquire a company with existing licenses then to be able to obtain them de novo,” he said. “There might be opportunities for acquiring companies with licenses that give us regulatory approval to offer different kinds of business lines.”


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Maple Finance has successfully navigated significant market challenges through its strategic pivot to secured lending (Maple v2) and the launch of its Syrup product. Syrup has become a primary growth driver, delivering sustainable, outperforming stablecoin yields and rapidly increasing TVL. The upcoming custody-first Bitcoin staking product (istBTC) presents another significant avenue for expansion. Crucially, Maple has achieved operational profitability, a key inflection point that, combined with a fully vested token and active buyback mechanism, strengthens its investment case. While valuation metrics suggest potential undervaluation relative to peers and growth, the primary forward-looking risk identified is the long-term sustainability of its current high-take-rate collateral staking revenue model.

article-image

Higher inflation historically lags behind tariff implementation, so don’t celebrate just yet

article-image

VanEck launches its first tokenized fund after financial giants convene at SEC roundtable

article-image

The “GameFi” platform that began its development while part of Zynga is launching another NFT collection

article-image

Funds disagree about which metrics matter, but agree fundamentals are key

article-image

PGP creator Phil Zimmermann’s connection with Bitcoin is complicated

article-image

Blockworks spoke with a dozen current and former employees about the problems that have plagued Bitget’s blockchain, Morph