Former FTX US President Brett Harrison is back with a new venture: Architect Financial Technologies, and its flagship platform, AX—a regulated exchange built for perpetual futures on traditional assets.
AX introduces a novel way to trade stocks, forex, ETFs, indexes, and commodities with the same flexibility and efficiency as crypto perpetual contracts. In short, it brings the “crypto perps” model to traditional finance, but within a regulated, centralized structure.
### Trading Without Market Hours
Unlike traditional markets, AX will operate 24/7, giving traders round-the-clock access to stocks and currencies. The platform offers perpetual futures contracts, meaning trades never expire—a feature inspired by crypto derivatives.
Traders can use smaller collateral to control larger positions, bringing leverage tools that were once exclusive to crypto markets into stocks and forex. In Harrison’s words, AX is designed to “combine the capital efficiency and operational simplicity of crypto perps with the security, transparency, and regulatory oversight of traditional futures exchanges.”
This blend of crypto-style flexibility with Wall Street safeguards could redefine how traders engage with global markets.
### The First Regulated Exchange for Traditional Perps
AX is being described as the world’s first centralized, regulated exchange for perpetual futures on traditional assets. The exchange offers a wide range of products including:
– Foreign currencies (FX)
– Single stocks
– Stock indexes and ETFs
– Interest rates
– Metals, energy, and commodities
All contracts on AX are standardized, centrally cleared, and traded on an anonymous order book operated by Architect Bermuda Ltd, which runs under dual licenses issued by the Bermuda Monetary Authority. This dual-licensed structure allows AX to balance global accessibility with full compliance and institutional-grade transparency.
### Designed for Institutions, Built for Scale
At launch, AX is open to institutional clients such as hedge funds, family offices, asset managers, market makers, and insurers in eligible jurisdictions. A waitlist is available for qualified individual traders, signaling that retail access will come later.
Harrison emphasized the platform’s focus on professional-grade performance, backed by Connamara Technologies’ matching engine. This technology powers AX’s low-latency APIs, web interface, and open-source SDKs for developers in multiple programming languages.
The goal is to deliver speed, transparency, and accessibility—qualities traders expect from top-tier crypto exchanges, but with the regulation and security of traditional finance.
### A New Market Structure
AX introduces a hybrid trading model that blends crypto-style capital efficiency with traditional risk controls. Key features include:
– Price bands and volatility halts to maintain fair pricing
– Default waterfalls to manage counterparty risk
– Product-specific margin requirements tailored to each asset
Collateral can be posted in U.S. dollars or stablecoins, making it flexible for both institutional investors and crypto-native traders. All settlements rely on independent benchmarks, ensuring transparent price discovery and consistent risk management.
AX will also support portfolio margining across multiple asset classes, improving capital efficiency for professional traders running multi-market strategies.
### Raising Capital and Building Confidence
Chicago-based Architect Financial Technologies is currently raising its Series A round, having secured $17 million so far from a lineup of strategic backers including:
– Coinbase Ventures
– Circle Ventures
– Anthony Scaramucci’s SALT Fund
This early funding provides Architect with the momentum to expand globally and continue developing its institutional product suite. For investors, the backing by prominent crypto and fintech firms signals strong confidence—especially given the turbulent legacy of FTX.
Harrison’s credibility, paired with this support, positions AX as a serious player in the evolution of digital trading.
### From FTX to Architect
Brett Harrison’s return to the spotlight comes nearly two years after stepping down from FTX US. He served as president for 17 months, leaving the company in September 2022, just weeks before the exchange’s dramatic collapse.
Prior to FTX, Harrison worked at Citadel Securities and Jane Street, where he first collaborated with Sam Bankman-Fried. These experiences gave him deep insight into both traditional trading infrastructure and crypto exchange operations—the exact blend of expertise shaping AX.
Now, with Architect, he is building a platform that merges the efficiency of crypto systems with the oversight of traditional markets.
### A New Frontier for Traders
The goal behind AX is straightforward: bring crypto-style perpetual trading to traditional assets in a regulated, secure way. This translates into:
– 24/7 trading across global markets
– Leverage and capital efficiency previously seen only in crypto
– Unified margin management across asset types
– Regulatory protection and institutional-grade oversight
This hybrid approach could fundamentally change how people invest in stocks, currencies, and commodities—removing the limitations of market hours while maintaining transparency and compliance.
It’s not just a new platform; it’s a new model for how financial markets could operate in the future.
### What Makes AX Different
The difference lies in the bridge connecting crypto’s flexibility with Wall Street’s discipline. Unlike decentralized exchanges, AX is fully regulated, providing traditional safeguards like margin limits, volatility halts, and standardized contracts.
At the same time, it offers crypto-style speed, leverage, and access to multiple assets under one system. Traders will be able to execute strategies that were once limited by time zones, clearing delays, or outdated infrastructure.
In short, AX takes the best from both worlds—the agility of DeFi and the stability of TradFi—and fuses them into a single trading environment.
### Looking Ahead
Architect’s AX platform is now live for institutional participants, with expansion plans underway. Harrison said the company aims to bring broader access to qualified retail investors once regulatory pathways are cleared.
The team is already exploring new integrations, asset listings, and collateral types to make the platform more inclusive over time.
For now, AX represents a first-of-its-kind exchange designed to modernize global trading infrastructure. It could eventually bring 24/7, crypto-style markets to every major asset class.
The mission: make traditional markets trade like crypto, without sacrificing trust or oversight.
### Conclusion
Brett Harrison’s Architect Financial Technologies is charting a new course for global trading. With AX, it blends the best of both financial worlds—speed, transparency, and 24/7 access, all wrapped in regulatory clarity.
The timing feels right. As markets evolve and digital infrastructure matures, AX could become the blueprint for how future exchanges operate: always open, fully regulated, and globally accessible.
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*Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.*
https://themerkle.com/former-ftx-us-president-brett-harrison-launches-ax-a-regulated-exchange-for-perpetual-contracts-on-traditional-assets/