FTX CEO Denies Huobi Acquisition Rumors Despite Huge Revenue Spike

One of the biggest crypto exchanges, FTX, has confirmed that it’s not looking to buy Huobi, despite what people (and publications) might say.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and CEO of FTX, took to Twitter to reassure the apparently wondering followers that the crypto exchange is not acquiring another exchange — the Seychelles-based Huobi.

The statement comes amid the suggestions that FTX was, in fact, planning the acquisition. 

Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Huobi Group founder Leon Li is in talks with companies willing to “sell a roughly 60% slice of the company” at an approximate valuation between $2-3 billion.

Sam Bankman-Fried and Tron founder Justin Sun were named among the people the Huobi founder held discussions with, according to Bloomberg’s sources, although an FTX spokesperson declined to comment on the issue.

Justin Sun publicly announced that their company was not involved in any negotiations with this matter.

Sam Bankman-Fried has been dubbed “the next Warren Buffett” for his acquisitions during this crypto bear run. His ventures have been providing financing to a lot of companies.

In July, FTX provided a $250 million revolving credit to a crypto lender BlockFi, who halted withdrawals following Three Arrows Capital. Bankman-Fried later praised BlockFi for “careful risk management and great leadership” in “removing troublesome counterparties _before_ they become a problem [sic].” 

Another Bankman-Fried-owned company, quantitative trading firm Alameda offered $500 million to finance a troubled crypto broker Voyager Digital to let their customers get early liquidity through FTX and recover part of their funds. This was an offer Voyager later rejected, describing it as an attempt to generate publicity.  

Vidente, a company that holds the biggest stake in a South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb, has shared that FTX is in talks about a potential acquisition of Bithumb — whether through co-management or direct sale of Vidente’s stake.

In June, the crypto exchange bought Bitvo, a crypto asset trading platform that operates in Canada.
FTX’s revenue grew over 1,000% over the last year, leaked documents reviewed by CNBC showed. The company’s capitalization increased from $90 million in 2020 to over $1 billion in 2021 during the market’s peak, thanks to multiple acquisitions and despite spending millions on marketing campaigns, including 2022 Super Bowl ads and the naming rights to Miami’s NBA arena.