FTX Closed Acquisition of Liquid Exchange a Few Days Late
FTX completed the acquisition of Japanese crypto exchange Liquid on April 4 according to an email to Liquid shareholders from CEO Mike Kayamori.
The acquisition was first announced in early February and was originally slated to close on March 31 according to an earlier blog post by Liquid. However, the email from Kayamori said that the process took a few days longer than expected.
Liquid is one of the largest crypto exchanges in Japan with over $2 billion in daily trading volume. The acquisition will give FTX a foothold in the Japanese crypto market.
FTX is a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange that was launched in 2019. The exchange offers a variety of products including futures, options, and leveraged tokens. FTX is headquartered in Singapore and has offices in Hong Kong and San Francisco. FTX was founded by former employees of several Wall Street firms including DRW Trading Group and Jane Street Capital LLC. The exchange offers more than 150 digital assets with 20x leverage available on a number of products.
“Liquid and its team have built an impressive business that offers a wide variety of cryptocurrency trading pairs, making it a very valuable addition to our platform,” said Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO at FTX. “The Liquid team has created an outstanding user experience and we are excited to join forces as we continue to expand around the world.”
The acquisition of Liquid represents a major step forward for FTX as it continues to build out its exchange platform. With one of the largest daily trading volumes in Japan, Liquid is already a well-established and trusted name in the crypto space. The addition of such a large market will undoubtedly help drive additional user growth and volume for FTX going forward.
Many industry experts are praising this move by FTX, as it positions the company to become one of the leading players in the rapidly-expanding crypto derivatives market. While some critics have expressed concern about FTX’s ability to manage such a large acquisition, others believe that this is just the first step in what will be an ambitious plan to build a global derivatives powerhouse. Only time will tell how this all plays out, but for now, it appears that FTX is well on its way to becoming a major player in the world of crypto derivatives.
Liquid is being sued for wrongful termination by a former employee who alleges the Singapore subsidiary made her a “scapegoat” after it suffered a $90 million breach last year.
The employee, Diana Arlotti, had worked as head of compliance for Liquid from February 2019 until she was fired in August 2020. In her lawsuit, filed in California state court on Tuesday, Arlotti alleges that she was made a “scapegoat” after the hack and that her firing was retaliation for her complaints about the company’s failure to properly safeguard customer funds.
Arlotti is seeking unspecified damages, including lost wages and benefits, and punitive damages. She is also seeking to have the court issue an injunction ordering Liquid to expunge all references to the hack from her personnel file.
A spokesperson for Liquid said the company does not comment on pending litigation. FTX extended Liquid a $120 million loan in the wake of the hack before agreeing to buy the exchange outright.
I am a bitcoin and crypto currency writer. I also work as a professional trader, and I have experience with stock trading and bitcoin trading. In my work, I aim to provide clear and concise information that helps people understand these complex topics.
