CMC News

Former FTX U.S. President Brett Harrison's Architect Closes $35M Round for Trading Platform

Former #FTX U.S. president #BrettHarrison secured $35 million for Architect Financial Technologies to build an institutional trading platform spanning derivatives, equities, futures, and digital assets.

The Information reported Tuesday that participants in the round included Miax, Tioga Capital, ARK Investment, Galaxy and VanEck. The funding follows a $12 million round in 2024 backed by Coinbase Ventures, Circle Ventures, SALT Fund and other investors.

Architect received regulatory approval in Bermuda to offer perpetual futures contracts tied to #traditional assets including stocks, commodities, and foreign currencies. Perpetual futures were first popularized in #crypto markets by BitMEX and later became a core product at FTX prior to its collapse in late 2022.

The new capital signals renewed investor confidence in the sector and continued venture appetite for crypto-linked #derivatives infrastructure. Architect is explicitly targeting professional and institutional traders with features including algorithmic trading capabilities, advanced risk management tools, and multi-asset derivatives support.

The company plans to expand beyond Bermuda into additional markets including Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Harrison's startup aims to capitalize on growing institutional demand for sophisticated trading infrastructure that connects traditional finance with digital assets.

Derivatives are widely regarded as the largest segment of global financial markets. The notional value of outstanding contracts in over-the-counter and exchange-traded derivatives markets is valued in the hundreds of trillions of dollars, dwarfing world economic output by every conceivable metric.