Former FTX U.S. President raises $35 million to build a cross-market derivatives trading exchange.

Brett Harrison, the former president of FTX US, has officially launched a new round of entrepreneurship after leaving the FTX system. His newly founded company, Architect Financial Technologies, has currently completed a round of fundraising of $35 million, aiming to bring the trading structure of the crypto market into the derivatives market of traditional financial assets.

Build a cross-market derivatives exchange to open up new career directions.

Harrison founded Architect Financial Technologies after FTX collapsed at the end of 2022 and focused the startup on derivatives and institutional-grade trading infrastructure.

Harrison's startup does not continue the business model of a single cryptocurrency exchange, but instead tries to integrate multiple asset classes to target a broader range of professional and institutional trading needs.

Early stage funding layout, completing the first round of fundraising in 2024

Before the latest round of financing, Architect had completed an early fundraising of $12 million in 2024. The investors at that time included institutions such as Coinbase Ventures, Circle Ventures, and SALT Fund.

The funds are primarily used for the initial technical infrastructure construction of the platform, product design, and preparations related to regulatory compliance, laying the foundation for subsequent business expansion and market layout.

In 2025, raising another $35 million, Ark and Galaxy both participated in the investment.

On December 24, 2025, Architect completed a new round of financing of $35 million, with participating investors including Miax, Tioga Capital, Ark Invest(, Galaxy, and VanEck.

This new funding will be used to continuously build a trading platform designed specifically for professional traders and institutional investors, supporting diverse derivative products and cross-market trading needs.

Product and regulatory progress, Bermuda approves perpetual futures

In terms of products and regulation, Architect has obtained approval from the Bermuda )Bermuda( regulatory authorities to offer perpetual futures products linked to traditional assets, covering stocks, commodities, and foreign exchange.

Perpetual futures were first promoted by BitMEX in the crypto market and later became one of the core trading products before the collapse of FTX, demonstrating the importance of this type of product in the encryption and derivatives market.

Market size and expansion direction, targeting global derivatives demand.

From a global financial structure perspective, the derivatives market is currently one of the largest financial markets. According to multiple estimates, the nominal value of over-the-counter and exchange-traded derivatives contracts reaches tens of trillions or even hundreds of trillions of dollars, vastly exceeding the global economic output.

S&P Global's report in February this year pointed out that despite the continuous evolution of the derivatives market, liquidity remains a core issue for most asset classes.

Against this background, Architect is also planning to expand its business beyond Bermuda to Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, establishing a derivatives trading platform that can operate across jurisdictions and serve institutional investors globally.

This article discusses that the former president of FTX in the U.S. raised $35 million to create a cross-market derivatives exchange, first appearing in Chain News ABMedia.