Former FTX General Counsel is Set to Debut a New Crypto Exchange
- Former FTX general counsel Can Sun is set to debut a new crypto exchange, teaming up with other ex-employees.
- Trek Labs, a startup led by Sun, received a license from Dubai’s crypto regulator last month.
- A report said that the firm is aiming to sell a 10% stake with a valuation exceeding $100 million.
- “In a post-FTX world, you need trust and transparency to create a true alternative to the other players,” Sun said.
Can Sun, a former general counsel at Sam Bankman-Fried’s bankrupt cryptocurrency trading platform, FTX, has plans to debut a new digital asset trading platform based on the experience he gained from SBF’s firm. A recent report claims that a few of the bankrupt exchange’s former employees are teaming up to create the new trading platform.
As per a new report from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Trek Labs, a Dubai-based startup led by Sun, officially received a license from the region’s crypto regulator last month. Former FTX staff member Armani Ferrante now serves as the CEO of Trek’s holding company in the British Virgin Islands.
Additionally, Ferrante heads Backpack, a partner firm specializing in the design and operation of digital currency wallets. Notably, Trek’s executive team includes Ferrante’s wife, formerly the legal deputy for Sun. The ambitious venture is currently seeking investors, aiming to sell a 10% stake with a valuation exceeding $100 million, the WSJ reported.
“In a post-FTX world, you need trust and transparency to create a true alternative to the other players,” Sun said.
Sun and Ferrante said in a statement that they seek to implement the learnings from the FTX collapse to keep the customers’ funds safe. Trek Labs will operate as a crypto exchange under the name Backpack Exchange and will use Backpack’s technology to allow users to hold funds in their own “self-custody” crypto wallets. Moreover, the exchange itself wouldn’t be able to unilaterally access the wallets.
It is important to mention here that these “self-custody” crypto wallets were designed using so-called multiparty computation techniques, which require authorization from multiple parties before a transaction is approved. Backpack will be launched in beta later this month, and customers will be given the ability to verify their holdings at any time, said Sun and Ferrante.
The two former FTX executives also noted that they hired other ex-employees at the bankrupt exchange because of their skills and experience. Sun provided key testimony against Bankman-Fried and also informed Dubai authorities of his testimony.
As reported earlier by BitcoinWisdom, FTX seeks to restart operations under new management. Currently, fintech startup Figure Technologies, crypto VC firm Proof Group, and Tom Farley, a former president of the New York Stock Exchange, have placed their bids to buy the bankrupt digital asset trading platform.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
