In November 2021, the crypto market cap touched an all-time high of $3 trillion. Amid rising inflation and uncertain geopolitical conditions, cryptocurrencies lost more than $2 trillion worth of market value within the last eight months. Analysts termed the latest market plunge as one of the worst “crypto winters” of all time. The crypto mayhem was so intense that it forced some of the leading names like Three Arrows Capital and Celsius to file for bankruptcy. However, there have been some winners as well.
FTX, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, is one of the biggest winners of the latest crypto winter. With the acquisition of Liquid Group, Good Luck Games, Bitvo, and the recent deal with BlockFi, the crypto exchange has turned the $2 trillion crypto rout into a buying opportunity. With billions of dollars in cash, FTX is still on the hunt for further acquisitions. In a discussion with Reuters last month, Bankman-Fried said that the company still has a decent amount of cash to save struggling firms in the crypto ecosystem. FTX reported a whopping 1,000% jump in revenues last year as the number climbed from $89 million in 2020 to over $1 billion in 2021.
Binance on the other hand has quietly strengthened its position in the digital asset world during the latest crypto winter. Binance recently overtook Coinbase as the exchange with the largest Bitcoin holdings. While Coinbase laid off approximately 18% of its global workforce, Binance announced the opening of almost 2,000 positions and expanded its operations significantly in the past few weeks.
“Deep Pockets”
According to Marc P. Bernegger, the Co-Founder of the Crypto Fund AltAlpha Digital, both FTX and Binance have “very deep pockets” with billions in cash. The Swiss entrepreneur added that the acquisition strategy of FTX and Binance is helping their expansion.
“After the latest massive crypto crash, we see a market consolidation. Established players like Binance and FTX with very deep pockets take advantage of these developments and are actively looking to acquire struggling competitors and expand their product offering,” Bernegger said.
Earlier this year, Binance announced a strategic investment worth $200 million in Forbes.
Robust Ecosystems
Parsa Abbasi, Co-Founder and CTO at LivelyVerse.io, believes that…
