The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is putting its investment dollars and its Teachers’ Innovation Platform to use for a cryptocurrency exchange.
During a funding round hosted on the Ontario Teachers’ TIP, FTX Trading Ltd. received just over $420 million from investors, driving up the company’s valuation to $25 billion. The Ontario Teachers’ were among 69 organizations participating in the round.
Since the Bahamas-based company, which serves as a globally accessible cryptocurrency exchange, was founded in 2019, it has seen its average trade volume rise by 75 per cent, to $14-billion per day, since the beginning of July. It has also seen its user base expand by 48 per cent in the same period.
Read: Back to basics on cryptocurrency
The funds raised from the most recent investment round will be used to expand the exchange into equity, prediction markets and non-financial transactions. In a press release, Olivia Steedman, senior managing director at the Teachers’ Innovation Platform, FTX has the potential to shape a new category of business.
“As a global, technology-driven innovator in the financial sector, FTX fits well with our mandate. We look forward to working with FTX’s management team in supporting the continued growth of the company.”
In other news, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is part of a consortium buying a freight railcar and tank container leasing service from France’s public railway operator.
According to the terms of the deal, the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français will sell the Ermewa Group to the Caisse and its partner, the DWS Group. Proceeds from the sale, which cost the Caisse €1.6 billion ($2.305 billion), will be used to cut the public transportation provider’s debt by about $4.61 billion.
In a press release, Emmanuel Jaclot, executive vice-president and head of infrastructure at the Caisse, said the company will undergo some managerial restructuring in the future. “As Ermewa consolidates its leadership, it will play a key role in the transformation and decarbonization of freight transport — a priority consistent with our commitment of reducing the carbon intensity of our portfolio and more broadly of the economy.”