Bitcoin Daily: Speedy Crypto Exchange Launched By Former Morgan Stanley Developers; Starling Bank Co-founder Joins Winklevoss’ Gemini Trust

A group of former software developers from Morgan Stanley have created a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange that will reportedly execute trades in less than a millisecond for both retail and institutional investors. Phemex has been in the beta testing phase for several weeks, and started trading on Nov. 25. Jack Tao, who left Morgan Stanley after 11 years, co-founded the company.

“The internet has made it possible to communicate and transfer information,” Tao told Reuters in an interview. “So a public blockchain enables instant transfer of value.”

He added that Phemex “can manage 300,000 transactions per second, as well as deliver an order entry and response time of less than one millisecond.”

In other news, Gemini Trust, the crypto exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has hired Julian Sawyer, the co-founder of U.K. digital bank Starling Bank, to help it launch its European expansion.

This is the latest hire for Gemini, which has brought on executives from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and International Securities Exchange (ISE) over the past 18 months. Sawyer was the COO and head of banking services at Starling Bank before stepping down in June. Despite the struggles digital currencies have faced around the globe, Sawyer believes crypto exchanges can succeed.

“I really see the world of crypto and digital exchanges being at that pivotal point,” he said. “If you look at the long term, I don’t think we’ve reached the peak. … These things will just take time.”

OneConnect Financial Technology, the blockchain and AI subsidiary of China’s top insurance company Ping An Insurance, has filed paperwork for the terms of its IPO, where it will seek to raise between $432 million and $504 million. The firm will offer 36 million American depositary shares (ADSs) at a price of between $12 and $14, with each ADS representing three ordinary shares.