Thread by @FTX_Benson

1/ Thoughts on FTT and FTX (Not Financial Advice)

2/ In the past 2 years, FTX has grown from nothing to the No.3 exchange on the market.

When FTX was launched (2019/4), there were already big players in the derivatives market such as BitMEX, OKEX, Huobi, Bitflyer; and Binance was ready to enter the game.

3/ It's a miracle that FTX can break through the siege. What is the key? I think there are two things: innovation and execution.

4/ FTX is the inventor of leveraged tokens, index futures, and tokenized stocks. Binance followed FTX's path and released the same products after 3-6 months. When the market leader tries to copy you, you must have done something right.

5/ ..It's just like when Instagram copied "snap" from Snapchat.

FTX keeps a small team size(~70 ppl, 4 devs), which is conducive to rapid execution. Given their achievements in the last 2 years, ~70 ppl is an incredibly small team. As a reference, Coinbase has around 1700 staff.

6/ The early staff of FTX were all interviewed by SBF in person. (not sure if SBF still interviews everyone now). As an early community supporter, I have a lot of contact with FTX staff. In general, they are smart, sharp-minded, honest, and loyal to SBF.

7/ Loyalty is a rare trait in the crypto industry. We rarely see any management-level ppl leave FTX to another company.

8/ Some exchanges were facing severe regulation issues in the last year--- BitMEX was accused by CFTC, OKEX had a serious withdrawal issue, and Huobi is retiring China users. Who can take the market share from them?

9/ Let the numbers talk for themselves.

FTX and Binance's trading volume have grown over 3X from 2021/7/1 to 2020/1/1, while OKEX, Houbi, and BitMEX's volume declined.

10/ In terms of OI and trading volume, FTX's market share is growing fast as well. FTX is now ranked No.2 both in BTC & ETH OI, only after Binance.

11/ Since FTX launched its spot margin function, FTX spot volume has grown significantly. In this pic, KAIKO compared FTX's market share of BTC spot volume with Binance and Coinbase.

FTX's respective market share has grown from 2.5% to 15+% in just 8 months.

12/ Let's talk about the funding.

FTX closed a $900M funding round at an $18 billion valuation, which is the largest funding deal in crypto history; investors include Paradigm, Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, etc.

The raised capital will be mainly used for acquisitions.

13/ FTX had 2 major acquisitions recently, Blockfolio and LedgerX.

Blockfolio is a portfolio tracking app with 1M+ DAU. FTX can expand its retail user base through Blockfolio, and by connecting Blockfolio and FTX, Blockfolio's users can trade spots directly in the app.

14/ ....It's a win-win deal.

FTX acquired LedgerX for its licenses and talents. With the licenses, FTX.US can collaborate with the CFTC and may have a chance to offer crypto derivatives products to US retail traders, which is an important move for FTX.

15/ ...There are barely any exchanges that can legally sell derivatives to retail users in the US. Derivatives would be the key for FTX.US to catch up with Coinbase.

16/ Marketing
FTX has done many marketing partnerships: MLB, Benz, Maimi Heat, League of Legends, etc. FTX also recruited sport superstars like Stephen Curry and Tom Brady to be brand ambassadors.

17/ People might ask why FTX spent so much money on marketing. Here’s my 2 cents. Crypto exchange is a business with a strong "Matthew Effect." It's a "winner takes all" game. Brand image is vital if you want to acquire market share quickly in this growing industry.

18/ FTX's marketing campaigns aim to establish credibility and earn the trust of potential crypto users (especially in the US).

19/ Does this marketing strategy work? Just check the FTX.US and Binance US volume, and you'll know it.

20/
Finally, let's talk about FTT.

FTT is probably the most incredible exchange token in the past 2 years. FTT's price has grown 56 times since its listing. (ATH 84 times)

21/ 33% of FTX’s revenue is used to buy and burn FTT on a weekly basis. Holding FTT grants users many benefits such as free withdrawals, tx fee discounts, SRM airdrops, and FTT can be used as collateral for margin derivatives trading.

22/ FTX has joined the Visa Fintech Fast Track program and launched FTX cards in the US this March. They are working hard on expanding the FTX Card globally. I believe FTT holders might have privileges on staking FTT to use the card, just like CRO.

23/ It's a long thread.

I'm justifying why FTT is my largest alt position now.
(In fact, FTT has always been my largest alt bag since 2019/8.)

Crypto is conquering the world, and FTX is conquering crypto.

Thank you.

*2020/1-2021/7