FTX is one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, and it has spent millions of dollars in adverts in recent months.
The founder and CEO of FTX cryptocurrency exchange Sam Bankman-Fried have revealed that the company spends big on marketing because it is behind the other leading platforms in terms of name recognition.
While speaking at the Decrypt and Yahoo Finance Crypto Goes Mainstream event earlier this week, Bankman-Fried said most people entering the cryptocurrency space for the first time don’t consider FTX their first choice. He said
“There’s been some user growth, but we are really coming from behind on name recognition. We’ve been around for two and a half years. That’s a lot less long than some of the other big names in the crypto exchange business. When someone’s looking to get involved in crypto for the first time, we’ve found that they haven’t heard of FTX.”
FTX has spent billions of dollars on acquisitions, marketing, partnership and sponsorships in recent months. These have contributed to the cryptocurrency exchange’s growth as it now has a $25 billion valuation, higher than the $2.5 billion it was worth at this period last year.
The cryptocurrency exchange has spent big on marketing, especially in the sporting world. It shelled out $135 million to purchase the naming rights to the arena of the NBA’s Miami Heat, which is now known as the FTX Arena.
FTX also esports team TSM for $210 million, the largest acquisition in the esports history. Other sponsorships and partnerships include the $17.5 million paid for the naming rights to Cal Memorial Stadium, becoming the official cryptocurrency exchange of the Major League Baseball and many more.
The cryptocurrency exchange has also been expanding its presence in the cryptocurrency space. It completed the acquisition of futures and options exchange LedgerX, allowing FTX.US to start providing futures trading services in the United States. FTX is also expanding into the NFT space following the launch of its Solana-focused NFT marketplace.
Regarding NFTs, Bankman-Fried said;
“NFTs have had an absolute explosion in usage over the last six months. But it is still predominantly driven by the crypto industry rather than newcomers.”
The FTX CEO finally admitted that he wished he had entered the cryptocurrency space sooner due to the numerous opportunities present in the market.
