FTX US sees daily volume, users surge in Q3

Q3 was a volatile period for digital assets as Bitcoin wicked below $30,000 and the total crypto market capitalization shed half its value.

United States crypto exchange FTX US registered a large uptick in trading volumes and investor activity during the third quarter, underscoring heightened retail appetite for digital assets amid the volat bull market. 

FTX US saw average daily volume grow 512% for the quarter ending in September, with peak volumes hitting $807 million on Sept. 7, owner West Realm Shire Services said Thursday. The exchange’s userbase also increased by 52% during the third quarter.

By the end of September, FTX US claimed to hold 4.5% of the United States crypto spot market in terms of volume, up from less than 2% at the start of July.

The third quarter was a momentous period for the cryptocurrency market, with assets like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) slowly reasserting their bullish narrative, eventually leading to a record-breaking month of October. In the case of Bitcoin, the market appears to have reached a definitive bottom on July 19 before the recovery ensued.

Related: Report: Driven by DeFi, North America’s crypto volume increased 1,000% year-over-year

The global FTX cryptocurrency exchange founded by billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried smashed crypto funding records in the third quarter, raising $900 million from private investors. The capital raise put FTX in rare company as a crypto exchange decacorn, which refers to startups worth $10 billion or more. Then, in October, FTX collected another $420 million from 69 investors, bringing its total valuation to $25 billion.

In terms of more recent news, FTX US finalized its acquisition of crypto options exchange LedgerX on Oct. 25, a move that was intended to expand regulated crypto market access to U.S. investors. FTX US also launched a nonfungible token marketplace in September and expanded its functionality the following month by announcing support for the Solana blockchain.