FTX token is the native currency of FTX, a derivatives and spot cryptocurrency exchange run by Sam Bankman-Fried. The token, which trades under the ticker FTT, cuts down on trading fees and provides benefits for those that use the FTX platform.

FTT launched on May 8, 2019. The token traded for about $1.20 shortly after launch and had quadrupled in value by the end of 2020. In 2021, FTT soared to about $61 in May of that year before crashing to $25 in June. FTT rose again in the autumn, hitting an all-time high of $85 on Sept. 9, 2021. It plunged shortly thereafter and entered 2022 trading for about $40.

FTT launched with a total supply of 350 million tokens, with 175 million of those tokens reserved for FTX’s treasury and unlocked in the three years after launch. Similar to BNB, the exchange token issued by Binance, FTT is deflationary. That means that the supply decreases over time, theoretically increasing the demand for the tokens that remain.

FTX buys FTT from the FTT/USD market, then burns some each week. The exchange buys and burns tokens equivalent to a third of all fees generated on FTX’s markets (less promotional discounts, payment processor fees, referral fees and third-party costs), 10% of gains earned by its backstop liquidity fund and 5% of fees elsewhere on the FTX platform. As of May 2022, FTX has burned 17 million of the 263 million tokens in circulation.

FTT can be found on Ethereum, Solana and Binance Chain blockchains. Besides FTX, FTT is also listed on exchanges like Binance, Bitfinex and Huobi Global. FTT is a token, not a coin, so it cannot be mined. However, holders and stakers can earn rewards.

As of May 2022, FTX offers trading discounts of 3% for holders of more than $100 worth of FTT. These discounts increase to a 60% discount on trading fees for those who hold more than $5 million worth of the token. High rollers also become VIP traders, meaning that their orders are privileged above others.

Those who hold more than $10,000 worth of FTT tokens are also eligible for discounts on FTX’s over-the-counter (OTC) desk. Again, the more FTT a user holds, the more OTC discounts they are entitled to. For OTC trades, the discount is up to 0.02%.

Those who stake FTT earn greater referral rewards (up to 40%), can increase the relative size of airdrop rewards of other tokens by up to 14%, are entitled to up to 1,000 free ERC20 withdrawals per day, receive trading fee rebates and can enter up to six initial exchange offerings (IEOs). These fees depend on the number of FTT stakes, and rewards will increase for stakers of up to 1,000,000 FTX.

FTT is issued by FTX, the crypto exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang in 2019. Bankman-Fried has a large public persona; he is known for his multibillion-dollar portfolio and his contributions to the charitable movement, Effective Altruism.

FTX is backed by Alameda Research, a quantitative trading firm. Bankman-Fried owns about 90% of Alamada Research.

In April 2018, CoinShares and FTX launched an exchange-traded product (ETP) for FTT with about $40 million in seed capital.

In June 2021, FTX renamed Miami’s American Airlines Arena to the FTX Arena after buying the naming rights for $135 million.

A $400 million funding round in January 2022 valued FTX at $8 billion. In March 2022, tennis star Naomi Osaka became an FTX sports ambassador, joining NFL champion Tom Brady and NBA star Stephen Curry.