Digital asset trading service Crypto Facilities has announced a $1.5m seed round led by Pamir Gelenbe’s AngelList syndicate. Already operating with a license from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, the company plans to use the money to add new products and cryptocurencies to the site, grow its workforce and work more closely with US regulators. Co-founder and CEO, Timo Schlaefer told CoinDesk: "For us it’s really expanding the platform by adding additional products, assets, derivatives. Just giving people more tools to use. We are still relatively narrow with bitcoin futures, but we are looking to scale." Over the coming six-to-nine months, Schlaefer said the London-based firm plans to hire a "handful" of new employees, mostly developers. Currently, the firm is an Appointed Representative (AR) of Met Facilities LLP, authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, but doesn’t serve US customers. The company also intends to spend some of the investment to work with both US and European regulators. Launched last year, the company, founded by veterans of Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas, quickly made its mark in the industry. In February it partnered with Ripple to build an XRP derivative to go live later this month. The company also negotiated a deal with Chicago-based derivatives marketplace, CME Group to build two bitcoin price benchmarks designed to help manage the risk of bitcoin investments. CME is currently valued at $36bn. It was that partnership, along with over $150m in bitcoin derivatives trades for private clients, investment banks and hedge funds that first attracted lead investor Pamir Gelenbe’s whose portfolio already includes the Kraken digital currency exchange. A lot with a little In conversation with CoinDesk, Gelenbe, who syndicated a group of about a dozen backers on AngelList to lead the investment, said it was Crypto Facilities’ ability to accomplish […]
