Crypto exchange FTX buys Blockfolio for $150 million

Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency derivatives exchange FTX today announced the acquisition of cryptocurrency portfolio tracker Blockfolio for $150 million. FTX plans to collaborate with Blockfolio on a retail trading application, which it hopes to launch this fall. 

This is one of the largest crypto acquisitions. Binance’s acquisition of metrics site CoinMarketCap was rumored to be over $400 million. 

FTX is a cryptocurrency exchange focused on derivatives. It reportedly oversees $750 million in trades per day. Rather than directly buying and selling Bitcoin itself, derivatives traders swap things like futures and options contracts.

FTX also mints leveraged tokens, which are so complex that Binance delisted them because its users “don’t understand them.” 

Blockfolio’s portfolio tracker gives its users a broad overview of the direction of the cryptocurrency market, taking price feeds of all the major cryptocurrencies from hundreds of cryptocurrency exchanges. The firm has raised more than $17 million since its launch in 2014. 

In its purchase of Blockfolio, FTX sees “a chance to bring its powerful trading suite and industry-leading liquidity to a new audience,” according to its press statement. 

“We believe crypto is on the cusp of mainstream adoption,” said Ed Moncada, co-founder and CEO of Blockfolio. “So we’re thrilled by the potential of uniting one of the best product teams in our industry with what we are convinced is the best exchange in the space.” 

FTX is already planning to launch a decentralized exchange (DEX), Serum, soon. It relies on the Solana blockchain, which claims to be able to process 50,000 transactions per second. (The Ethereum blockchain, in comparison, can process about 13). FTX told Decrypt that the project is not related to the retail product it is building with Blockfolio.