Sam Bankman-Fried co-founded the cryptocurrency exchange FTX in 2019.
FTX was founded by Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang, with the exchange’s origins in the trading activities of Alameda Research. Bankman-Fried began developing the exchange in April 2019, and it opened for business the following month. The name FTX is commonly expanded as “Futures Exchange,” reflecting its early focus on cryptocurrency derivatives.
The exchange expanded rapidly during the cryptocurrency boom. In 2020 it acquired Blockfolio, a cryptocurrency portfolio-tracking application, and in July 2021 it raised $900 million at an $18 billion valuation. FTX later moved its headquarters from Hong Kong to The Bahamas and became one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges by trading volume.
A common mix-up is confusing FTX with Alameda Research. Alameda was the trading firm Bankman-Fried co-founded in 2017; FTX was the exchange established two years later. FTX collapsed in November 2022 after a liquidity crisis and revelations about the handling of customer funds. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, ending the company’s operation as a major exchange.