FTX, the cryptocurrency derivatives exchange, announced on Tuesday that it had completed a $900m round of financing, valuing the company at $18 billion.

This round of financing has attracted the participation of a number of celebrities and institutions, including son's Softbank Corp.Group, hedge fund boss Paul Tudor Jones and Sequoia Capital.

It is estimated that this makes the 29-year-old founder of the exchange, Bankman-Fried, worth $8.7 billion. "I am deeply honored by the support we have received," he said in a statement. This is our first large-scale financing, but through it, we have formed a group of very valuable partners. "

Although the valuation of $18 billion is lower than the $20 billion Bankman-Fried was looking for, it is still amazing for the company, which was founded in 2019. Between October last year and April this year, FTX's average daily trading volume increased 11-fold and now processes an average of more than $10 billion a day.

FTX is still much smaller than its main competitors Binance and Coinbase. By contrast, Yuan an has an average daily trading volume of more than $75 billion, while Coinbase has an open market valuation of $47 billion.