2019
Sam Bankman-Fried said FTX launched in spring 2019 after being built out from Hong Kong.
“And we launched spring 2019. And so, you know, we built it out from Hong Kong.”
Topic
FTX
14 facts from 4 episodes, in date order. These are what speakers said on the shows, each linked to the moment it was said. They aren't independently verified.
2019
Bankman-Fried said FTX solved the exchange cold-start problem by having a large amount of trading volume from its sister company Alameda on the platform.
“a giant amount of volume from our sister company, Alameda, on the platform”
2021
At the time of the December 2021 recording, the hosts described FTX as a crypto exchange founded about two and a half years earlier and worth over $25 billion.
“the crypto trading exchange, FTX, started just two and a half years ago and today worth over $25 billion”
2021
FTX sponsored the Miami Heat's arena, which was named FTX Arena, and its logo appeared on Major League Baseball umpires' uniforms.
“FTX is now the sponsor of the Miami Heat's basketball arena, FTX arena, and you can see their logo on every Major League Baseball umpire's uniform.”
2021
Mario Gabriele said FTX had roughly 70 to 75 employees when he wrote his series in the summer of 2021.
“When I sort of wrote my pieces in summer, it was closer to, I want to say 70, 75.”
2021
Sam Bankman-Fried said that in December 2021 FTX ranked third among crypto exchanges by volume and second by open interest.
“Today, we are the third biggest by volume. We're the second biggest by open interest and actually pretty close to first, I just realized.”
2021
Sam Bankman-Fried said FTX's endorsement and sponsorship deals were meant to build its brand and were not an efficient way to acquire customers.
“It's not the most effective way to acquire customers. It's gotten us some, not an enormous number. We think of it as brand rather than marketing”
2021
Host Ben Gilbert said Sam Bankman-Fried gave Mario Gabriele access to FTX's entire data room for his series about the company.
“You also gave Mario access to your entire data room so that he could write his pieces.”
2022
Acquired says its revenue fell 40% at the end of 2022 as the podcast advertising market collapsed after the FTX failure and rising interest rates.
“So, end of 22, FTX happens. Interest rates go up. You know, all the podcast advertising market, you know, falls off a cliff. Our revenue dropped 40%.”
2022
The crypto exchange FTX collapsed in 2022 after dipping into client funds.
“this has happened before, including most prominently with crypto exchange FTX, which collapsed in spectacular fashion in 2022.”
Undated
Yakovenko says he demoed Solana's break demo to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who then wanted FTX's engineers to see it.
“And I demoed this to Sam and he was like, okay, everyone else needs to see this.”
Undated
A PitchBook list read by the host included BlackRock, IVP, Sequoia Capital, SoftBank, Race Capital and Binance among FTX's original investors.
“the original investors in FTX. And this is a nutso list. I mean, BlackRock, IVP, Sequoia Capital, SoftBank, Race Capital, Binance.”
Undated
FTX acquired LedgerX, renamed FTX US Derivatives, as its route to offering CFTC-regulated crypto derivatives in the United States.
“the US players just have not had a sophisticated derivative suite. And we acquired LedgerX, now FTX US derivatives.”
Undated
Sam Bankman-Fried described FTX's acquisition of Blockfolio as a sign of a strategy to reach users beyond power traders.
“I think it represented a pretty clear strategy that we'd not previously been emphasizing. Where, you know, we're looking beyond the power user.”
Episodes