Brett Harrison’s software startup is pushing into futures and crypto markets for institutional investors, as he moves away from his association with Sam-Bankman-Fried and the collapse of FTX.
(Bloomberg) — Brett Harrison’s software startup is pushing into futures and crypto markets for institutional investors, as he moves away from his association with Sam-Bankman-Fried and the collapse of FTX.
Architect Financial Technologies, the venture formed by the former president of FTX US, is launching a platform to tap into exchanges and trading venues including CME Group Inc., Coinbase Global Inc. and Uniswap. It also plans to offer clearing services for futures trades through StoneX Group Inc. and Wedbush Financial Services LLC.
Harrison, 34, is building Architect based on his experience working at both an exchange and high frequency trading firms. He was at FTX US for 17 months, stepping down in September before the collapse of the crypto empire. Before that he spent time at market maker Citadel Securities and quantitative trading firm Jane Street Group, where he first worked with Bankman-Fried.
“One of the things I have learned is security and trust is paramount in building a trading platform,” Harrison said in an interview. “As we designed Architect we have come up with security features to ensure clients remain in control of private information such as wallets, keys and account information.”
The Chicago-based firm won’t manage or trade client funds. It provides the software for users to connect to systems in futures and crypto markets. Architect’s larger plan is to offer trading of multiple asset classes, expanding to equities, options, and fixed income. To support those efforts, Architect partnered with StoneX, aiming to tap its liquidity.
Harrison declined to discuss specifics of his relationship with Bankman-Fried, beyond previous public statements.
The executive, who hasn’t been publicly accused of any wrongdoing, has said that he tried to raise concerns about organizational problems at FTX and that any alleged criminal activity there was concealed from him. Even after trust in crypto has been severely shaken by a series of scandals last year, Harrison said his firm is seeing “tremendous interest.”
Bankman-Fried, who gained fame and wealth as a prominent crypto advocate, awaits trial in October after pleading not guilty to fraud and campaign-finance law charges. His digital-asset empire rapidly spiraled into bankruptcy in November, with billions of dollars in customer funds lost.
Architect is developing a compliance program and plans to apply for registration licenses, according to Harrison, the firm’s founder and chief executive officer. The firm was built to work within the US regulatory landscape, and to help bigger players use the platform for trading in multiple markets.
“The lines of traditional assets and digital assets will be blurred over time,” Harrison said. “Technology that is successful in one will require being successful in the other.”
Architect plans to provide over-the-counter trading through a mix of market-makers including B2C2, Galaxy Digital and Wintermute. It’s also set to offer connectivity to custodians including Anchorage Digital and BitGo, or self-custody of digital assets through the platform’s own program.
In its initial funding round, Architect got $5 million from investors including Coinbase Ventures and Circle Ventures. Anthony Scaramucci and his SALT Fund are also active investors.
Harrison has brought on former colleagues to build a team of nine. They include the corporate counsel, Karista Vaeth, former senior counsel at FTX US; and chief technology officer Eric Stokes, who spent eight years at Jane Street developing trading infrastructure and manging its technology groups.
The Architect team’s experience working at high-frequency trading shops and exchanges will be used to build tools that serve multiple markets, letting investors decide where and how they want to trade, he said.
“While we think digital assets are going to be a critical part of the future of financial markets, we are building for the markets that exist today,” Harrison said. “And there are plenty of non-crypto assets that clients want access to.”
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