Cryptocurrency exchange FTX is trading Chicago for South Florida.
CEO Sam Bankman-Fried announced the company will move its U.S. headquarters to Miami in a tweet posted Tuesday afternoon. The change comes only months after FTX.US officially opened a 9,000 square-foot office in the Windy City to house its U.S. base.
In the same tweet, Bankman-Friend said FTX.US President Brett Harrison was stepping down from the business.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, a crypto industry advocate who has made a vocal effort to recruit those ventures to the area, retweeted Bankman-Fried's announcement.
"[FTX] is one of the most innovative companies on the planet and you [Bankman-Fried] are one of the most innovative technologists," Suarez said in the tweet. "Welcome HOME!"
It's unclear where the Miami office will be based or how many employees it will house. FTX.US, the company's U.S. affiliate, did not respond to a request for comment.
Bahamas-based FTX was already building a presence in South Florida before the headquarters announcement. Last November, FTX.US VP of business development Avinash Dabir told reporters the exchange was building a permanent space in the Brickell Financial District for up to 18 employees. In early 2021, FTX purchased the naming rights to the Miami Heat arena in downtown Miami in a $135 million deal.
At the time, Bankman-Fried said buying the naming rights was "a chance to provide value to the growing and diverse community in Miami and its surrounding cities, as well as join a championship community, a championship organization and a championship culture."
Founded in 2018, FTX is an exchange for users to trade Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. The venture is backed by $1.8 billion in investor capital.
FTX.US joins a wave of other crypto companies that either moved their headquarters to Miami or established an office in the city over the past two years, including London-based exchange Blockchain.com and crypto trading platform OkCoin.
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