Michael Moro, the former CEO of Genesis Trading, is set to lead Ankex, a newly established cryptocurrency derivatives exchange. Ankex, which emerged from the incubation phase within Qredo, a crypto custody tech firm, will commence alpha testing this week. The platform aims to provide users with a decentralized custody solution while incorporating features familiar to professional traders, such as a central limit order book.
Following the recent collapses of centralized crypto-trading platforms like FTX, there has been a growing interest in decentralized finance (DeFi). However, Moro highlights that the trading experience in DeFi does not adequately meet the needs of many institutions, which require a low latency, high-speed matching environment. “The old model of custody, trading, and settlement all in a box is done, but people are used to the central limit order book, fast matching, and all of that stuff that offers a better trading experience,” Moro stated in an interview with CoinDesk.
To bridge this gap, Ankex has developed a high-speed matching engine off-chain to complement Qredo’s on-chain custody utilizing multi-party computation (MPC) technology, thus providing the best of both worlds.
Importantly, Moro clarifies that Ankex operates as a separate entity from Qredo. After three months of alpha testing, the exchange plans to integrate Metamask and Fireblocks, allowing non-custodial wallets to seamlessly plug in and participate in trading activities.
Ankex has already garnered significant interest, with approximately 17,000 users eagerly waiting to participate in the testing phase. The exchange is currently in the process of obtaining registration and licensing in the British Virgin Islands. Additionally, it has future plans to pursue regulation in the United Arab Emirates and Dubai, illustrating its commitment to operating within established legal frameworks.
During the alpha stage, Ankex will initially focus on handling plain vanilla perpetual futures contracts for three digital assets: bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), and Binance coin (BNB). USDC will serve as the only acceptable collateral during this testing period, according to Moro.
As the cryptocurrency industry continues to evolve, Ankex aims to provide institutional traders with a sophisticated and efficient trading experience while ensuring the security and decentralization of users’ assets through its innovative approach to custody and trading solutions. With Moro’s leadership and expertise, Ankex is poised to make a significant impact in the crypto derivatives market, attracting both institutional and individual traders alike.
