Former FTX U.S. president Brett Harrison has successfully raised $5 million (approximately £4 million) to launch his new crypto venture, Architect. The new funding will mainly be used to expand its personnel.
The new venture aims to create crypto trading software for the centralized and decentralized markets so that institutional investors can navigate through these markets easier.
According to Harrison, Architect can hopefully “allow people to get their confidence back in trading in this industry.”
The project is expected to launch in the second quarter of 2023. Harrison has expressed his wish to incorporate the software into Coinbase Global and Circle — both exchanges participated in Architect’s funding.
2/ Architect will build institutional-grade trading technology that streamlines crypto market structure, making it easier and safer for firms and large traders to access decentralized protocols and centralized exchanges alike.
— Brett Harrison (@BrettHarrison88) January 20, 2023
He said that Architect currently has an advisory board of directors during the preparation stage. The board will eventually transition to a formal board and develop company transparency.
Harrison added that he wants Architect to be a place where people can give and receive criticisms freely.
Lack of funding in crypto industry
Although the unstable macroeconomic situation largely contributed to the lack of funding in crypto, numerous bankruptcy cases that happened last year further destroyed investors’ confidence in the industry.
Harrison’s former company, FTX, was one of the most well-documented implosion cases last year. FTX founder Samuel Bankman-Fried allegedly misused customer funds to bet on crypto ventures via his trading company, Alameda Research.
The FTX issue, Harrison admitted, made him find difficulty in raising funds for Architect.
Research institution Pitchbook reported that in the last quarter of 2022, funding given to crypto ventures fell by 75 percent, which was the lowest since 2020.
Throughout 2022, blockchain startups rose $26.7 billion (£21.55 billion). However, most of those funding happened in the first quarter. In the last quarter, the crypto industry only gained $2.30 billion (£1.85 billion).