Brett Harrison, ex-FTX.US President, is on the verge of creating a new cryptocurrency startup called Architect. However, the startup will be tailored to meet the needs of institutional clients. As reported by Bloomberg News, Harrison has garnered an impressive $5 million investment capital from prominent industry investors such as Coinbase Ventures and Circle.
Architect’s software will make navigating decentralized and centralized exchanges more accessible to investors to restore trust in trading within this sector. According to Harrison (who left FTX US last September after a year-long tenure), Architect aims to bring back people’s confidence in trading in the crypto industry.
Harrison anticipates that Architect will be fully integrated into the platforms of Coinbase and Circle before the end of the second quarter, with a swift launch not far behind.
Other investors in the funding round included Anthony Scaramucci and his son’s SALT Fund, SV Angel, Third Kind Venture Capital, Motivate Venture Capital, and other parties.
Last December, The Information divulged that Harrison was raising $6 million for Architect at a staggering valuation of $60 million. On January 14th, however, he tweeted about his difficulty acquiring funds due to his connections with FTX from the past.
Astonishingly, some investors who participated had prior ties to the fallen exchange FTX owned a 30% stake in Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Capital. Additionally, Circle raised an impressive $440 million in 2021 thanks to FTX’s involvement, and both firms held small equity stakes in each other.
Last week, Harrison denounced FTX and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried through a Twitter thread. He made it clear that the fraudulent scheme had been carefully secreted from executives at FTX US, including himself.
This is now understandable why they kept their unlawful activities hidden from us, as we possess extensive professional networks and our means of communicating with US regulators aside from speaking to American media.”
Brett Harrison
