Cryptocurrency startup Portfino Technologies has officially launched its high-frequency trading platform for digital assets, securing significant funding from venture capital firms in the process.
Portifino has raised $50 million in equity funding from Valar Ventures, Global Founders Capital and Koatu to launch its platform. Although Portifino did not disclose how the funding will be used, the company has been active on the hiring front, recruiting more than 35 employees across 5 global locations.
Porfino was founded in 2021 by former Citadel Securities employees Alex Casimo and Leonard Lancia. The company is developing crypto-based high-frequency trading technology that is primarily used by hedge funds. Although the company is now coming out of stealth mode, it claims to have traded billions of dollars on centralized and decentralized crypto exchanges.
High-frequency trading, or HFT, refers to commonly used automated trading platforms Large financial institutions to execute large orders at high speed. These platforms rely on sophisticated algorithms to analyze market trends and trade opportunities that can be executed in seconds.
Hedge funds are tasting a little honey.
A recent PwC report found that one-third of the 89 traditional funds studied are investing in digital assets. https://t.co/Tm4uNEZo5V
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) June 9, 2022
On the crypto front, HFT strategies can now be implemented on decentralized exchanges or DEXs. Unlike centralized exchanges, DEXs offer much faster trading speeds and new arbitrage opportunities. Portofino HFT Technology is looking to build on these capabilities by increasing liquidity access.
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Hedge funds and other institutional investors have shown strong interest in cryptocurrencies, but overall adoption has been slow for a number of reasons, including regulations and a lack of infrastructure. As the head of crypto investment manager Apollo Capital told Cointelegraph:
“Nobody wants to be the first for something like this. Because if you’re the first and things go wrong, there’s a career risk. It backfires to some degree.”