FLUID, a liquidity aggregator that uses AI quant-based models to tackle liquidity in virtual asset markets, has raised $10 million in funding led by blockchain investors GSR, Ghaf Capital, and 21Shares. The grant will aid the team in realizing their vision for connected liquidity, providing users access to the best real-time pricing and liquidity for smaller venues such as exchanges by lowering spreads and latency.
The company’s proprietary intelligent order book seeks to deliver high throughput with low fees and minimal latency by using machine learning and quantitative-based methodologies used in the high-frequency trading world.
FLUID is led by ex-bankers and fintech personnel from Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, and Jefferies. It aims to tackle inefficiencies caused by fragmented liquidity – a multi-trillion-dollar market problem in the virtual assets space – and will provide service across spot trading, derivatives, futures, synthetics, tokenized assets, and security token offerings.
“We are delighted to have the backing of top institutional investors, partners, and the involvement of a world-class dedicated team to build our AI quant-based crypto liquidity aggregation system,” said Ahmed Ismail, FLUID’s president and CEO. “The current technology used to aggregate virtual liquidity is many years behind that used by mainstream hedge funds and trading desks at traditional financial institutions, leading to high fees and high latency in the crypto industry.
“FLUID will transform the virtual assets industry by solving several combined challenges that arise from fragmented liquidity, which remain unresolved today. We provide retail and institutional investors access to a secure, robust framework for participation in the virtual assets market.”
FLUID’s AI quant-based engine is the system’s core. It is being developed by CTO Jason Jiang, who has more than 20 years of experience at Goldman Sachs and BlackRock. It focuses on creating quant-based high-frequency models for trading on liquidity aggregators in traditional finance and, recently, digital markets.
FLUID is aiming to launch in May