Sam Bankman Fried's FTX crypto exchange to expand into Europe after winning Cyprus license

• Cryptocurrency exchange FTX said it won a European operating license in Cyprus. 
• FTX Europe will allow clients in the European Economic Area and the Middle East to access derivatives, options, and volatility products, among others. 
• FTX completed a $400 million funding round in January that valued the company at $32 billion.

FTX will offer services in Europe after securing a license from Cyprus, setting up a further expansion for one of the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchanges.

The company said Monday FTX Europe will allow clients in the European Economic Area and the Middle East to access derivatives, options, and volatility products, among others, through a licensed investment firm. The firm was not identified in the company's press statement. 

The move comes after CySEC, the financial market regulator in Cyprus, approved the company's ftx.com/eu platform. FTX Europe's headquarters are in Switzerland, and the island country of Cyprus will serve as an additional headquarters in the region. 

"As we continue to grow, we are constantly looking at opportunities to become appropriately licensed and regulated in every market we enter," said Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX's founder and CEO, said in a statement. "We'll be interacting with regulators in various countries across Europe to continue to provide a safe and secure environment for people to trade crypto." 

FTX, which was founded by Bankman-Fried in 2019, completed a $400 million funding round in January that valued the company at $32 billion. Its FTX.US unit was worth $8 billion.

A previous move in Europe by FTX was the launch of tokenized stock trading with German financial services company CM-Equity AG in 2020.