The cryptocurrency exchange had a turnover of 89 million dollars in 2020. But when the cryptocurrency wave completely swept the population, and even companies started charging for it, revenues soared to $1.02 billion in 2021.

At the same time, operating income grew from 14 million dollars to 272 million dollars. Profit after tax will reach $388 million in 2021, up from 17 million the previous year, writes CNBC.

In the first quarter of this year, FTX had a turnover of 270 million dollars, and therefore is likely to have a total turnover of around 1.1 billion dollars during 2022. But it is unclear how crypto exchanges fared in other quarters when the prices of various cryptocurrencies began to plummet.

Disadvantages for Coinbase

In comparison, listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase had a turnover of 7.4 billion dollars and an after-tax profit of 3.6 billion dollars last year. But for the second quarter, the cryptocurrency exchange had a turnover of 808.3 million dollars – which is a 64 percent decrease over the same period last year.

Additionally, Coinbase also reported a rather staggering after-tax loss of $1.1 billion, down from a $1.59 billion profit in the same period last year.

FTX was founded by former Wall Street trader Sam Bankman-Fried three years ago, after Coinbase and Binance established themselves as the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. While Coinbase remains largely in the US, Binance, which is the largest exchange by volume, visited China before moving its headquarters to the Cayman Islands.

FTX, on the other hand, has been building quietly, and now owns 15 smaller companies around the world. FTX is based in Cyprus, Germany, Gibraltar, Singapore, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, among others. According to CNBC, crypto companies often buy startups to quickly get the right regulatory license to set up shop in a new country.