"Bankman-Fried's FTX Considering Robinhood Acquisition Plan... Stock Price Soars 14%"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried's cryptocurrency exchange FTX is reportedly considering acquiring the U.S. online securities trading platform Robinhood, Bloomberg reported on the 27th (local time).

Bloomberg cited multiple sources saying that FTX is internally discussing the possibility of acquiring Robinhood. However, no official acquisition offer has been made to Robinhood, and FTX has not finalized its decision on the acquisition, the sources added.

Earlier, Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX, disclosed through a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last month that he had acquired a 7.6% stake in Robinhood, worth approximately $648 million. At the time, CEO Bankman-Fried described the stake acquisition as an "attractive investment opportunity."

Following the report, CEO Bankman-Fried issued a statement saying, "We are interested in Robinhood's business prospects and potential ways we can collaborate with them," but also stated, "However, we are not actively discussing M&A with Robinhood."

Robinhood significantly expanded its business riding the wave of a stock investment boom among young individual investors, especially the MZ generation, after the COVID-19 pandemic, and went public through an IPO in July last year. However, as the stock market continued to decline, its revenue and user base shrank, leading to poor performance. Amid the news of FTX's acquisition consideration, Robinhood's stock price surged 14% in a single day, closing at $9.12.

Meanwhile, CEO Bankman-Fried recently attracted attention by providing large emergency funds to two struggling cryptocurrency companies facing liquidity crises. He extended loans to the cryptocurrency lending platform BlockFi and the cryptocurrency brokerage firm Voyager Digital. In a time of significant turmoil in the cryptocurrency market, Bankman-Fried's intervention is credited with preventing further chaos.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.