Former FTX US President Aims to Build Crypto Trading Software

FTX US’s former president is reportedly seeking to raise money for a new cryptocurrency startup.

Brett Harrison wants to build crypto trading software for big investors and told a venture capital (VC) firm that he’s looking to raise $6 million at a valuation of $60 million, The Information reported Friday (Dec. 2).

Harrison did not immediately respond to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

He was with FTX US from May 2021 to September 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile.

In a Sept. 27 thread on Twitter, Harrison said that he is stepping down as president of the U.S. arm of FTX.

As PYMNTS reported at the time, he didn’t share what his next moves would be in that tweet thread, but he noted the cryptocurrency industry was “at a crossroads” and there would be much to be seen about the friction in the market as larger players entered and more fragmentation and complexity occurred with the technology.

“I’m remaining in the industry with the goal of removing technological barriers to full participation in and maturation of global crypto markets, both centralized and decentralized,” Harrison wrote at the time in one of the tweets.

FTX US was among the 130 companies affiliated with FTX.com that filed for bankruptcy protection Nov. 11.

FTX, the once-popular crypto exchange, came to a rapid demise in early November, causing aftershocks that continue to reverberate throughout the crypto and venture capital industries and rattling investor confidence and perceptions of stability across the sector.

The stunning implosion came about after it was revealed that FTX used customer funds to bail out its sister trading firm, Alameda Research, to the tune of around $10 billion after Alameda itself suffered heavy losses due to trading strategies dating back to April 2021.

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