According to its CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, cryptocurrency exchange FTX is willing to collaborate with Robinhood Markets.
FTX was reportedly looking for ways to purchase Robinhood, according to sources familiar with the situation, although Bankman-Fried refuted such claims.
Bankman-Fried added, “I have always been impressed by the company that Vlad and his team have developed and we are thrilled about Robinhood’s future possibilities and various ways we may work with them. That said, there aren’t any ongoing M&A discussions with Robinhood.
A Robinhood representative referred to the dual-class shareholder structure, in which the company’s founders retain more than half of the voting power, in a reply to TechCrunch. As a result, no agreement to buy the firm may be made without their express consent. Given the tone of the letter, TechCrunch does not believe that the two men who founded Robinhood are drooling over the prospect of selling their company.
After the news of a potential takeover surfaced earlier today, shares of Robinhood rose by 14 percent before dropping by around 3 percent in after-hours trade. Bankman-Fried disclosed last month that he had purchased a 7.6 percent interest in Robinhood Markets.
Although Robinhood isn’t a crypto-focused business, it does provide commission-free trading for equities and exchange-traded funds in addition to a few different cryptocurrencies through its mobile app. On its way to the public markets, crypto-related trading revenues were a major factor in the increase of Robinhood’s revenue, but they have since decreased.
According to a recent Bloomberg story, FTX gathered almost $2 billion to invest in other businesses and make acquisitions in an effort to grow the cryptocurrency exchange. A $2 billion venture capital fund was also established by the business earlier this year to support web3 development teams.
