Crypto Veterans Secure $28 Million in Funding Round for Arbelos Markets Led by Dragonfly

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As a researcher with a background in the crypto industry, I find Joshua Lim and Shiliang Tang’s latest venture, Arbelos Markets, particularly intriguing. With their extensive experience at Circle Financials and LedgerPrime, two prominent players in the digital asset space, they have now raised $28 million to build a digital asset trading platform that specializes in derivatives and providing liquidity to customers.

Joshua Lim and Shiliang Tang, two crypto veterans who previously worked at Circle Financials and LedgerPrime, a digital asset hedge fund acquired by FTX before its collapse in November 2022, have successfully raised $28 million in a funding round led by Dragonfly Capital, one of the leading investment companies in the industry.

Based on a Fortune article published on Wednesday, according to an interview with the duo, the recent funding round drew involvement from several well-known industry players who were previously their employers. Among these companies are FalconX, Circle, Paxos, Polygon, and Deribit.

Venturing into New Horizons with Arbelos Markets

As a seasoned crypto investor, I’m excited to share that two industry veterans are planning to unveil their new venture: Arbelos Markets, a digital asset trading platform. Although the company was officially established during Q3 2023, it has been under wraps until now, keeping the market guessing about its offerings and potential innovations.

With the latest financial injection, Arbelos is set to broaden its offerings, enabling users to buy and sell cryptocurrency assets. Upon completion, this platform will focus on derivatives trading and acting as a source of liquidity for clients.

As a crypto investor, I would express it this way: “This strategic shift places our company squarely against formidable competitors like Jane Street Capital and Cumberland, which is part of DRW.”

Lim and Tang shared with Fortune their dedication to safeguarding investor interests via strong risk management systems on the platform. Taking lessons from previous financial turmoils, Arbelos intends to avoid the missteps that led to the downfall of prominent firms like Three Arrows Capital (3AC) and FTX during the 2022 market crisis.

“Lim expressed hope that as cryptocurrency evolves into a recognized global financial asset, there will be a need for experienced intermediaries to handle risks and execute trades. Our company aims to provide the necessary infrastructure for this function.”

Championing Transparency and  Compliance

According to Fortune’s article, Arbelos will exclusively serve institutional investors, offering them derivative and over-the-counter financial services.

Lim and Tang announced that the platform aims to develop a “transparency system” to tackle transparency concerns in emerging economies. This feature will utilize on-chain functionality to provide clients with essential information such as portfolio details. Additionally, users can track their assets’ locations to monitor their funds and assess the platform’s risk level.

A company with a team of just 12 employees predominantly based in engineering possesses extensive backgrounds in quantitative trading.

Arbelos currently runs its offshore business from the British Virgin Islands. In order to conduct operations freely within the local legal framework, the company is pursuing a regulatory license from regional financial authorities. However, due to regulatory uncertainties, US traders will not be able to access the crypto derivatives platform when it goes live. Since its soft launch in 2023, Arbelos has successfully facilitated an impressive $25 billion in trading volume.

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2024-05-08 18:15