Ex-FTX US Chief Brett Harrison Launches AX Trading Platform

[Ben Graham]

Brett Harrison, the former president of FTX US, has returned with a fresh venture aimed at rethinking how markets trade. Through his new company, Architect Financial Technologies, he has launched a regulated exchange called AX. The goal is to bring the always-on, flexible nature of crypto-style perpetual futures into the world of traditional finance. Stocks, currencies, commodities, and even interest rates are now on the table.

What is AX? Turning Traditional Assets into 24/7 Perps

At the heart of AX is a familiar product to crypto traders: perpetual futures. These are contracts that do not expire, and now AX plans to offer them not just for crypto, but for individual stocks, global indexes, currencies, metals, and energy markets too.

The @Architect_fi team and I are excited to announce the launch of AX, the world’s first centralized and regulated exchange for perpetual futures on traditional assets: FX, single stocks, ETFs, stock indexes, interest rates, metals, energy, and more. pic.twitter.com/W5hmihDubc

— Brett Harrison (@BrettHarrison88) October 29, 2025

Traders can use either fiat or dollar-pegged stablecoins as collateral. The idea is to give users non-stop access, letting them trade around the clock no matter what the asset class is. Harrison believes it’s time for traditional markets to benefit from the same speed and flexibility crypto markets already offer.

Bermuda, Backing, and a Base for Regulation

The new platform is being launched from Bermuda under the supervision of the Bermuda Monetary Authority. That provides a regulatory framework, which is important because perpetual futures have largely been off-limits in traditional, regulated finance.

AX is already raising a Series A round and counts notable investors such as Coinbase Ventures, Circle Ventures, and the SALT Fund among its backers. That kind of support signals confidence, but it also highlights how different this platform is from what has come before.

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Why This Feels Like a Line Being Crossed

This move could help redraw the map for how derivatives are traded. By offering perpetual contracts for traditional assets, AX blurs the line between crypto markets and traditional finance. If the platform gains traction, it could alter how institutions and even retail traders perceive exposure to stocks and currencies.

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Harrison believes the market is ready, especially now that there’s growing interest in flexible and fast-moving tools that surpass what legacy platforms offer.

Speed Bumps and Open Questions

Of course, just because AX is launching doesn’t mean everything will go smoothly. It still needs to attract sufficient trading volume, establish robust risk controls, and address the technical challenges of continuous trading. The US remains a challenging environment, and it’s unclear whether AX will be able to enter that market anytime soon. People watching this space will be paying attention to which assets get listed first, how collateral is handled, and how regulators respond to this new model.

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A New Kind of Exchange Is Taking Shape

Brett Harrison is not just starting another crypto company. He is trying to build something that merges the best of both worlds. If this works, traders will have a way to speculate on everything from Apple stock to crude oil using a structure that was once only available to crypto insiders. It’s still early, and success will depend on how the market reacts, but AX has thrown down a challenge to the old way of doing things. Now the rest of the industry gets to decide if it wants to follow.

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Key Takeaways

• Brett Harrison, ex-president of FTX US, has launched Architect Financial Technologies and its regulated exchange AX to merge crypto-style perpetual futures with traditional finance.
• AX will allow 24/7 trading of perpetual futures for stocks, currencies, indexes, metals, and energy markets using fiat or stablecoins as collateral.
• The exchange operates under Bermuda’s regulatory framework, backed by major investors like Coinbase Ventures, Circle Ventures, and the SALT Fund.
• By extending perpetual contracts beyond crypto, AX could redefine how both retail and institutional traders access exposure to traditional assets.
• Challenges include attracting liquidity, maintaining compliance, and managing risk in a model that merges two very different financial systems.

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