Talos has announced the public launch of its platform that connects prime brokers, exchanges, OTC desks, lenders, and custodians in the digital asset sector. The Talos platform, which is said to have been live for the last year, offers a suite of solutions that supports clients through the full trading lifecycle for digital assets.
In a release, Anton Katz, co-founder and CEO of Talos, said the ability to efficiently trade digital assets has been on of the biggest challenges limiting institutional investor adoption of this asset class:
“The institutional trading workflow is significantly more complex than that of the retail sector and demands a very different set of requirements. The Talos platform addresses these key issues – such as security, efficiency and scale – in both a familiar and customizable environment that tailors the trading experience for each customer.”
Since August 2019, Talos says it has been providing digital asset trading solutions to a core group of capital market participants.
Katz explained that staying quiet the past couple of years was a deliberate decision:
“Ethan and I decided to go about this differently, and built our platform from the ground up, where we could bring to bear our experience in developing trading systems for the capital markets. Once in production, we spent the next several months validating its effectiveness to address real issues with real customers. And now, a year after our first production trade, we are happy to finally be able to talk about our platform publicly.”
Jordan Ettedgui, Head of Trading at Enigma Securities and one of Talos’ early customers said the Talos team has shown great flexibility and creativity in problem-solving, helping take their technology stack to the next level.
Katz and his co-founder Ethan Feldman both come from the institutional trading industry. The two have brought together an advisory board with deep roots in capital markets: Dave Cushing (former Head of Global Trading at Wellington), Jennifer Hill (former CFO of Merrill Lynch & Co. and the wholesale banking division of Bank of America) and Tim Grant (CEO of Six Digital Exchange).
Katz and Feldman have also brought together a prominent group digital asset investors that includes Autonomous Partners, Castle Island Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Initialized Capital, Notation Capital, Founder Collective, and V1.VC.
“One of the biggest keys to widespread institutional adoption of digital assets is a technology infrastructure that unites all market participants and gives them the confidence to operate at scale,” said Arianna Simpson, Founder of Autonomous Partners. “That is exactly what Talos has built, and we are excited to help them realize their ambitious launch and growth plans.”
Feldman added that their expertise is in trading systems, and they built this platform from the ground up specifically for crypto by working closely with their customers.
“We don’t get to see a brand-new asset class emerge very often, so naturally this is an incredibly exciting time, especially for engineers in the financial sector,” said Katz. ” … Our mission is to bridge these two worlds, using our understanding of institutional requirements, and further drive the evolution of trading.”