Ontario Teachers Keep Investing in FTX Which is Not Available in Ontario
An Ontario-based organization in charge of administering pensions for teachers once again invested during FTX’s latest fundraise, but residents of this Canadian province still can’t use FTX.com.
FTX Trading Ltd., the owner and operator of major crypto exchange FTX, said that they closed a USD 400m Series C fundraise – Increasing the valuation of the company to USD 32bn.
Among the participants is the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, an independent organization responsible for administering defined-benefit pensions for school teachers of the Canadian province of Ontario. The Board claims it had $227.7bn in net assets as of June 30, 2021.
Yet, notably, Ontario is a restricted market for FTX. The exchange states that there “may be partial restrictions” in certain jurisdictions, “potentially including” Canada, while “FTX also does not onboard any users from Ontario.”
And it’s not the first time either: the organization announced back in October last year that their Teachers’ Innovation Platform (TIP) had participated in the USD 420m funding round for FTX. “TIP focuses on growth equity and venture capital investments in companies, such as FTX, that are using technology to shape future markets,” they said at the time.
Meanwhile, according to FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, they “will look to continue interacting with regulators to facilitate access to digital assets in a safe and compliant manner.”
It’s not just FTX that may land in regulatory trouble should it offer services to Ontario residents. In December 2021, the Ontario Securities Commission warned investors that cryptoasset platform Binance is unregistered in Ontario, therefore not authorized to sell any derivatives or securities in the province.
Meanwhile, other participants in this latest FTX fundraise include Temasek, Paradigm, NEA, IVP, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Steadview Capital, Tiger Global, and Insight Partners, among others.
Also, this is the third fundraise within the past six months for FTX.com, bringing the total amount raised to USD 1.8bn, seeing FTX’s valuation rise by over 75% in that period.
The announcement further stated that FTX grew “significantly” since the company was valued at USD 25bn in October 2021 – FTX Trading’s user base is up 60% and its average daily trading volume increased 40%, reaching some USD 14bn in daily volume, they said.
According to the company, all “investors involved in the Series C raise simultaneously participated in the previously announced FTX US Series A funding round” which valued FTX US at USD 8bn.
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Learn more:
– 2022 Crypto Regulation Trends: Focus on DeFi, Stablecoins, NFTs, and More
– Crypto Fundraising in 2022: More VC, Metaverse, Gaming, and Regulatory Questions
– Crypto Exchanges in 2022: More Services, More Compliance, and Competition
– FTX US Gets USD 400M Boost to Compete With Coinbase, Binance, Kraken & Co in US
– FTX Launches a USD 2B Blockchain & Web 3 Fund
– Ethereum ETFs Struggle in Europe, but See Rising Volumes in Canada
– Canadian Tax Agency Launches Audit To Thwart Crypto Tax Evasion
