FTX Trading Limited, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, has announced the formation of FTX Australia Pty Ltd, marking an important milestone in the company’s worldwide development.
The expansion comes only weeks after FTX Europe was founded to offer its services across the European Economic Area (EEA). The new European division became the first company in Dubai to be granted a license to run a crypto exchange and trading house last week.
This month, FTX also entered the African market by partnering with AZA Finance, a Nairobi, Kenya-based fintech startup that claims to be the continent’s first digital currency exchange.
FTX Australia
Australia is a well-known financial center in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as a significant and expanding market for FTX. Australians have a long history of being early adopters of new technology, notably in the financial services industry. The launch of the Australian unit demonstrates FTX’s long-term commitment to the Australian market and is the logical next step in the company’s worldwide expansion.
The headquarters at Australia will be in Sydney, Australia’s financial capital. The company has an Australian Financial Services License and works as an issuer of OTC derivatives such as options, futures, and contract for difference (CFDs) with underlying digital/crypto assets, as well as leveraged tokens.
FTX’s CEO and Founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, said:
“The establishment of FTX Australia should provide all our local clients with the confidence of trading on a registered and licensed platform.”
Australia’s Digital Services Act
On Monday, March 21st, Australian Senator Andrew Bragg, announced at the Australia Blockchain Week Conference the legislative proposal, that he hopes will usher in a new path for digital assets in the country.
Changes to crypto market licensing, custody, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), debunking, and taxation are proposed in the Digital Services Act (DSA) legislative package.
The European and Australian divisions will try to follow in the footsteps of its American counterpart, which debuted in 2020 and currently has 1.2 million users. Following a $400 million investment round in January, it was valued at $8 billion.
At the time of publication, FTT was trading at $44.78.