While FTX is still in bankruptcy, after the crash that rocked the cryptocurrency market, the former head of the American Exchange unit has started new projects. Brett Harrison plans to launch his own cryptocurrency company.
For this, it will draw on resources from Circle, the USDC stablecoin issuer, and from the Coinbase exchange. The former head of FTX US raised $5 million (26 million R$) from investors like Coinbase Ventures and Circle Ventures for his new venture.
Crypto will focus on large investors
As reported by Bloomberg, Harrison works for a cryptocurrency software startup called Architect. Its goal is to launch a trading platform to make it easier for large investors to use centralized and decentralized digital asset markets.
In an interview on Thursday (19), the businessman said he hopes the architect will allow “people to regain their confidence in trading in this sector.” The client base will include small and medium-sized hedge funds, as well as high-volume trading firms and individual users.
Other investors in the startup’s funding round include Anthony Scaramucci, SALT Fund (which is owned by his son AJ Scaramucci), SV Angel, Third Kind Venture Capital and Motivate Venture Capital, among others.
Harrison believes that the product will hit the market in the second quarter of this year. Moreover, Architect is expected to be integrated into investor platforms Coinbase and Circle. However, according to him, the company will use most of the resources for recruitment. Harrison said he hopes to hire his former colleagues at FTX USA.
FTX US and Harrison
Harrison left FTX US in September of last year after about a year in charge. His departure occurred two months before the company collapsed and he had to file for bankruptcy. A month into the crisis, in December 2022, Harrison reported that he was trying to raise $6 million for his project, with a valuation of $60 million. However, the former head of FTX US did not disclose the company’s current valuation.
On January 14, Harrison took to Twitter to say that fundraising has not been easy due to his past relationship with FTX. But it is worth noting that some of the investors who participated in the round also had some connection to the stock exchange. FTX, for example, bought a 30% stake in SkyBridge Capital from Scaramucci. Additionally, participate in Circle’s $440 Million Fundraiser in 2021.