Crypto exchange FTX taps Eventus to monitor clients behavior
Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX crypto exchange is extending its collaboration with the Eventus Validus platform to meet all of its trade surveillance needs.
Announced today at the start of the FTX Crypto Bahamas conference, the crypto giant has contracted with Eventus to deploy the firm’s solution for trade surveillance and risk monitoring on all FTX markets throughout the globe.
The move comes as global regulators continue to require cryptocurrency trading platforms that run a marketplace to surveil participants within their markets. The use of Validus vastly expands FTX’s capabilities to fulfill its regulatory requirements and provides the necessary infrastructure to accommodate future growth.
This wasn’t the first interaction between FTX and Eventus as their relationship was established late last year through its US-based affiliate’s licensed cryptocurrency futures and options exchange and clearinghouse. At the time, FTX US chose to deploy Validus for trade surveillance and risk monitoring on its spot and derivatives markets.
In essence, Validus helps compliance departments to ensure their market operates with integrity, by monitoring client trading behaviour and identifying any problematic activity that requires further investigation. This is a major challenge with a nascent, unregulated asset class like cryptocurrencies, which is having a window into what a platform’s clients are doing.
A growing requirement for proven surveillance platforms
Eventus CEO Travis Schwab said: “We’re incredibly honored that FTX.COM has placed its full confidence in our platform after experiencing first-hand its power and versatility for meeting compliance and regulatory goals. The exchange has made abundantly clear the importance of a fulsome trade surveillance program to its overall mission, and we’re particularly pleased that FTX leaders recognize how Validus can meet its changing needs as the company continues to grow at such a stunning pace and establish new regulated markets in jurisdictions throughout the world.”
Despite the fact that the majority of digital asset exchanges are not currently classed as regulated marketplaces, there is a growing requirement for proven surveillance platforms in the crypto space.
Earlier in January, FTX.US had seen its valuation climb to $8 billion following the successful closing of Series A funding worth $400 million. The US-based affiliate of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange is also an investor in New York City-based IEX Group, the eighth largest stock exchange operator globally.
FTX US took a bet and made a strategic investment in IEX Group as it aims to leverage its expertise and infrastructure to establish a regulated marketplace for buying, selling, and trading digital asset securities.
