Internal documents reveal that FTX rode high on the wave of the crypto craze with revenue soaring more than 1,000% from $89 million to $1.02 billion in 2021. The crypto exchange has been expanding its global footprint through a flurry of acquisitions. The documents highlight that FTX has been very much profitable, quickly expanding across the world and recording breakneck growth.
However, like many other startups, its profitability depends on how one measures it. FTX’s operating income was $272 million, up from $14 million a year earlier, and it saw a net income of $388 million in 2021. This was up from $17 million a year ago. Moreover, FTX brought in $270 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2022 – on track for $1.1 billion in revenue for the year 2022. But it remains unclear how the crypto exchange was in the second quarter as crypto prices nosedived during the recent crypto winter.
Coinbase, a publicly traded platform, also recorded a cash boom during crypto’s bull market. It saw $7.4 billion in revenue and $3.6 billion of net income in 2021. However, in the second quarter of 2022, Coinbase saw $808.3 million in revenue – a drop of 64% from the year-ago quarter. There was also a surprise net loss of $1.1 billion, compared with $1.59 billion in net income a year earlier.
Sam Bankman-Fried founded FTX in 2019 and has recently stepped up in the crypto industry as a “helper” to sustain companies as liquidity dries up. His companies are also looking to acquire distressed assets. FTX signed a deal giving an option to buy BlockFi and was in talks to acquire South Korean-based Bithumb in July. The crypto exchange was also keen on Voyager Digital but its offer was turned down.
