FTX Acquires Japanese Crypto Exchange Liquid Group

Leading crypto exchange, FTX today announced it has acquired Japanese Liquid Group and all of its operating subsidiaries including licensed Quoine Corporation.

“FTX is pleased to announce the acquisition of the Liquid group of companies, including an FSA-registered crypto-asset exchange to provide products and services to our customers in Japan!”  FTX CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted.

As part of the deal, in compliance with Japanese regulators, Quoine will integrate FTX services into its offerings, and the latter’s Japanese users will be transferred to the Quoine platform, effective March 30, 2022.

Established in 2014, Quoine is the first crypto exchange to obtain an official license from Japan Financial Services Agency (FSA) since 2017.

FTX and Liquid Group will now work hand in hand to “provide products and liquidity to retail and institutional investors in the Japanese and global markets.”

The economic terms of the deal have not been revealed as of yet.

This will not be the first relationship between the two firms, as Liquid Global had previously secured a $120 million loan from FTX after the former suffered a $90 million hack. The deal is subject to customary closing conditions and will be finalized next month

Expanding its Product Offerings

FTX has been making serious moves to expand its product offerings to its users while complying with regulators.

Back in October, the US arm of the exchange, FTX US acquired a licensed crypto derivative platform, LedgerX to bring regulated crypto derivatives products to its users.

Following the finalization of the deal, LedgerX was renamed FTX US Derivatives and saw it obtaining three licenses including CFTC regulated Designated Contract Market (DCM), Swap Execution Facility (SEF), and Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO).

Meanwhile, Coinfomania reported recently that FTX US reached an $8 billion valuation after securing a $400 million funding round led by Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company SoftBank Group Corp and Singapore’s Temasek Holdings. The exchange noted that it plans to use the fresh capital to expand its business.

Shortly after the report, its parent company, FTX also hit a $32 billion valuation after closing a $400 million funding round.