FTX US Former Executive Raises Funds for Crypto Startup 

FTX is a bankrupt crypto exchange, once counted among the leading crypto exchanges in the world. Its US arm was led by Brett Harrison. 

According to recent information, Harrison has raised $5 million for his new crypto startup ‘Architect,’ which aims to develop trading infrastructure for crypto investors. 

While talking to a media outlet, Brett said, “It’s a software company aiming to build institutional-grade infrastructure to connect various crypto venues across decentralized and centralized exchanges,” he added, “We’re trying to make it easy to interface with either qualified custodians or self-custody. We’re building this single interoperability platform across crypto services focusing on trading.” 

The crypto startup has raised funds in a pre-product financing round from leading investors such as Coinbase Ventures, Circle Ventures, SV Angel, SALT Funds, P2P, Three King venture capital and Motivate Venture Capital. Anthony Scaramucci, the founder of Skybridge Capital and Shari Glazer are among the company’s angel investors. 

Brett started his career as an intern at Ember Corporation and has worked with several leading global companies. Before Architect, he was working with FTX US. Presently, Harrison is the founder and CEO of Architect.xyz.

“Talking with many past clients of FTX and thinking about my background, one of the biggest barriers of entry to people for trading is building the infrastructure to access all these different venues,” the former president added. “There’s a huge technological learning curve to doing so.”  

He seeks to appeal to anyone from enormous traders and hedge funds to trading companies, asset managers, and VCs or anyone who has to build infrastructure for crypto on more than one exchange. 

The raised capital will be used to hire highly trained professionals and to develop the product in such a manner that can ease the process for big players. Architects’ first and foremost aim is to develop “adaptable infrastructure products,” which can help institutions trade with ease on centralized and decentralized crypto markets. 

Architect aims to launch its services in the second quarter of this year. 

Brett concluded by saying that “I thought that we could make a difference in increasing the security and maturity of the space by helping traders adapt with the evolution of crypto market structure without having to build that software themselves,” adding, “So traders and trading firms can focus on monetization, alpha and building core components.” 

Earlier, Harrison shared a long Twitter thread on January 14, 2023 describing work at FTX US and Sam Bankman-Fried’s behavior with employees and subordinates. Anthony replied to a Tweet saying that he was “proud” to be an investor in Harrison’s new company.  

The bankruptcy of FTX has eroded the confidence of institutional investors in the crypto industry. Following the bankruptcy filings, many crypto lending firms have left the sector, raising concerns and indicating that the market is experiencing high volatility.

Nancy J. Allen is a crypto enthusiast and believes that cryptocurrencies inspire people to be their own banks and step aside from traditional monetary exchange systems. She is also intrigued by blockchain technology and its functioning.

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