Crypto Exchange FTX Establishes $2B Fund to Invest in Crypto Startups

The FTX Ventures fund will be one of the industry's largest, the Wall Street Journal said.

AccessTimeIconJan 14, 2022 at 12:50 p.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 5:47 p.m. UTC

Crypto derivatives exchange FTX has set up a $2 billion fund to invest in crypto-industry startups, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Amy Wu, who heads the fund. Wu later confirmed the move in a tweet.

  • FTX Ventures is one of the industry's largest funds, the report said. The full funding came from FTX and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried. Investments could be as low as $100,000 and as high as hundreds of millions of dollars.
  • Wu, who joined FTX this month from Lightspeed Venture Partners, said the fund could deploy all of the funds by next year, but that depends on the opportunities that FTX sees in the market. In October, FTX raised $420.7 million and was valued at $25 billion.
  • Wu told the Journal she is particularly interested in crypto gaming companies, as well as insurance and security products.
  • FTX Ventures joins funds set up by other crypto exchanges such as Binance Labs and Coinbase Ventures, both of which have been in existence for several years.
  • Crypto-related funds have boomed in the past year as cryptocurrency prices rallied. In November, Paradigm launched a $2.5 billion fund, the largest in the crypto industry.

UPDATE (Jan. 14, 13:05 UTC): Adds fifth bullet point.

UPDATE (Jan. 14, 13:50 UTC): Adds details in first, second bullet points, largest crypto fund in fifth bullet.

UPDATE (Jan. 14, 13:59 UTC): Adds Wu tweet.

DISCLOSURE

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.

Sheldon Reback

Sheldon Reback is a CoinDesk news editor based in London. He owns a small amount of ether.

Brandy Betz

Brandy covered crypto-related venture capital deals for CoinDesk.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk’s longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.


Read more about