Former FTX US CEO New Venture: Architect – AI-Based Trading Platform for Crypto

The former President of the now defunct FTX.US is starting another crypto trading platform – and he plans to imbue it with artificial intelligence (AI).

In a recent interview, Brett Harrison told CoinDesk that his new firm, Architect, would use the burgeoning technology to help develop algorithmic trading strategies.

“Our idea was to leverage the OpenAI API’s [application programming interfaces] and combine them with our internal trading API’s that we’ve built on top of all these different protocols to make it possible to use natural language probes to generate trading strategy code,” said the founder. 

AI sprang into the mainstream cultural and investment zeitgeist after OpenAI’s language processing tool ChatGPT was popularized earlier this year, demonstrating the power to directly answer almost any user-provided prompt. 

Ever since, developers have begun experimenting with how the technology intersects with the crypto industry, from creating Bitcoin-based educational resources to repurposing crypto miners for AI computing. 

Harrison’s vision for Architect more closely resembles that of incumbent financial players like JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, who are already exploring how to use ChatGPT-like tools for providing investment advice.

“We do think that AI is going to be a critical component of most businesses going forward, and we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to be able to leverage AI tools for our users,” he said. 

Market making with 80 lines of Python using @Architect_xyz ’s API! pic.twitter.com/qBuOqX58Ar

— Brett Harrison (@BrettHarrison88) June 9, 2023

As an example, Architect’s platform could let traders develop software that buys Bitcoin on Coinbase when the asset’s price drops lower than on other exchanges. That said, Harrison acknowledges that the effectiveness of such code is only as good as the prompts given to it. 

“You definitely need to review the strategy, make sure it’s working, tweak it, test it,” he added. 

The Shadow of FTX

Harrisson left FTX.US in September 2022 after prolonged disagreements and tension between himself and FTX’s main branch boss, Sam Bankman-Fried. The latter exchange is now bankrupt, owing customers over $8 billion, with its ex-CEO being sued by the Justice Department on over a dozen fraud charges. 

Harrison said his reputation has remained intact despite his history with the collapsed exchange, due to speaking out against Bankman-Fried’s power over the industry in advance. In fact, Architect was successfully able to raise $5 million in January from Coinbase Ventures, Anthony Scaramucci, and others.  

“We were able to raise, you know, very successfully, in what was otherwise, some of the most difficult times for the industry, for raising money in general, not just in crypto, but across the VC [venture capital] landscape,” said Harrison.