29.03.2024

Billionaire and head of FTX cryptocurrency exchange admitted the possibility of buying Goldman Sachs bank

The cryptosphere can outperform traditional finance, both literally and figuratively. Sam Bankman-Freed, CEO of FTX, a major cryptocurrency exchange, hopes to play a big role in this process.

The 29-year-old billionaire has already won huge acclaim in the blockchain industry and now says that in the future his company may well absorb US financial giants like Goldman Sachs and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). Let’s talk about the situation and the entrepreneur’s comments in more detail.

Recall that FTX is a cryptocurrency exchange that has recently begun to gain momentum and popularity around the world. As noted on the trading platform page, the exchange was created by traders for traders. It itself, among other things, offers users derivatives, options and leveraged tokens.

We also use the FTX platform. It will be convenient for fans of the Solana ecosystem , since it supports the so-called SPL tokens of this network and makes it easy to withdraw them without any commissions.

ftx cryptocurrency platform

FTX Cryptocurrency Exchange

Sam believes that his platform in the future may well bypass the major giants of today. And in the end it will even come to the absorption of such companies.

What the future will be with cryptocurrencies

In a recent interview, Bankman-Fried said that if FTX can become the leading cryptocurrency exchange and oust competitors like Coinbase and Binance, the idea of ​​buying financial giants is quite real. Here is a quote from a billionaire in which he raised the topic. The replica is provided by Cointelegraph .

If we were the largest exchange, the purchase of Goldman Sachs and CME is not out of the question.

That is, Sam ambitiously assumes that in the future the role of cryptocurrency exchanges will be much greater than today. Analysts agree with this. In their opinion, if the world really moves to cryptocurrencies as a key asset for preserving and transferring value, digital currency exchanges can really become a new generation of banks. Well, this opens up tremendous opportunities for such organizations – especially in terms of the availability of finance.

Sam Bankman-Friday FTX

Sam in the workplace

The 29-year-old CEO of FTX and Alameda Research is estimated to be worth $ 8.7 billion. Although now the exchange itself is still too early to aim at such competitors. According to sources, the market capitalization of Goldman Sachs is estimated at $ 129 billion and the market capitalization of the CME group at $ 75.5 billion .

That is, FTX cannot yet compete with these companies, since there are several times fewer of them. However, Sam suggests that this will change in the future.

Although FTX is growing rapidly, it is not yet in the same league as them. In an interview with Nikkei Asia on June 24, Bankman-Fried told the publication that the FTX’s valuation hovers around $ 20 billion in its latest round of funding. This means it may take some time before FTX has the purchasing power to acquire such large firms.

Sam Bankman-Friday FTX

To achieve the status of a young billionaire, you need to spend a lot of energy

But so far, the exchange has been buying up small and medium-sized crypto startups with great success. Bankman-Fried noted that the upcoming round of funding will raise «about a hundred million dollars» – mostly from organizations – and noted that «mergers and acquisitions will be the most likely use of funds» of the giant.

That being said, it is noteworthy that the FTX management does not plan to follow in the footsteps of the Coinbase trading platform, which went public in April 2021. Here is a quote from Sam.

We’re lucky: we don’t need to do this because we don’t need capital. On the other hand, listing has potentially large brand recognition benefits.

A potential merger with the aforementioned financial giants could make cryptocurrency not only a prominent, but also a dominant force on Wall Street. But just a couple of years ago, major financiers spoke very unflatteringly about Bitcoin and predicted an imminent collapse of it. As you can see, in the world of finance, rapid change can happen in a very short time.

In the meantime, the company is actively working on its own recognition throughout the world. In particular, in June 2021, the home arena of the world famous basketball club Miami Heat was renamed FTX Arena. At the end of the month, FTX became the official sponsor of the Major League Baseball (MLB), making its logo now visible on the iconic sport’s uniforms.

ftx arena cryptocurrencies

FTX Arena Building

We believe that the ambitions of Sam Bankman-Fried are fully justified. So far, cryptocurrency exchanges are a niche product that regularly faces problems in the form of unclear regulation and unclear legislative norms. However, things will be different in the future, and such platforms will indeed be able to take the place of current banks. I would like to believe that this will happen quickly enough.

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