Brett Harrison’s AX Exchange: A New Era of Financial Chaos? 🚀

by

Former FTX US President Brett Harrison, now armed with a resume more tragic than a Shakespearean play, is launching AX-a trading platform that promises to blend the chaos of crypto with the tedium of traditional finance. One can only wonder if this is the beginning of a phoenix-like rise or merely a phoenix that forgot to burn.

The audacious initiative seeks to graft the frenetic energy of crypto perpetual contracts onto the stodgy pillars of stocks, forex, and ETFs. A bold venture into the well-trodden fields of finance, where the only thing more volatile than the markets is the sanity of those who dare to trade them.

Harrison’s AX: Where Crypto Meets “Responsible” Finance 🎩

On Wednesday, Harrison, now a self-proclaimed “architect of financial redemption,” announced AX, a centralized and regulated exchange for perpetual futures on traditional assets. One might call it the “FTX 2.0,” except with more paperwork and less bankruptcy lawyers.

AX’s offerings range from foreign exchange to single stocks, ETFs, indices, and commodities-essentially, everything that can be quantified and then overcomplicated. The platform aims to apply the crypto perpetual model to these assets, proving that even the most mundane markets can be turned into a circus with enough leverage.

“We designed AX to marry the capital efficiency of crypto perps with the regulatory oversight of traditional futures,” Harrison declared on X, as if such a union were both possible and advisable. “Think price bands, volatility halts, and margin requirements-because nothing says ‘innovation’ like bureaucratic safeguards.”

The company behind AX, Architect, has already attracted investors who clearly enjoy financial Jenga. Bloomberg reports $17 million raised in its Series A round, with backing from Coinbase Ventures, Circle Ventures, and Anthony Scaramucci’s SALT Fund. A veritable who’s who of fintech’s most ambitious (or delusional) players.

AX’s Backers: Billionaires Playing Financial Jenga 🏗️

Architect, based in Chicago, has secured $17 million to build a platform that will likely cost twice as much to regulate. The involvement of institutional heavyweights lends AX an air of legitimacy, though one suspects their real interest lies in the potential for a thrilling exit strategy-or a dramatic collapse.

The @Architect_fi team and I are thrilled to unveil AX, the world’s first centralized and regulated exchange for perpetual futures on traditional assets: FX, stocks, ETFs, indices, metals, energy, and more.

– Brett Harrison (@BrettHarrison88) October 29, 2025

This financial alchemy comes with the promise of compliance, thanks to a Bermuda Monetary Authority license. One wonders if the island’s regulatory framework includes a clause for existential crises.

Altogether, these developments suggest that Harrison’s vision is as compelling as a Ponzi scheme in a suit. Investors, ever the optimists, seem to agree.

From FTX Inferno to AX Ambition 🔥

Before founding Architect in 2023, Harrison presided over FTX US, where he oversaw institutional business until the entire edifice crumbled in 2022. His exit, timed with uncanny precision, allowed him to leave the burning building before the smoke cleared.

Prior to FTX, Harrison honed his skills at Citadel Securities, where he led trading systems technology. Earlier, he worked at Jane Street alongside Sam Bankman-Fried, a partnership that proved as fruitful as a blind date between a cat and a cactus.

Read More

2025-10-30 00:27