Former FTX US President Brett Harrison is embarking on a new venture that will introduce perpetual futures—a highly leveraged form of contracts commonly associated with cryptocurrencies—into traditional markets such as stocks, currencies, and commodities.

His new company, Architect Financial Technologies, has received backing from Bermuda to offer perpetual futures contracts linked to traditional assets including stocks, indexes, and interest rates, as reported by Bloomberg on Wednesday.

Source: Bloomberg

Perpetual futures, or “perps,” allow traders to take leveraged positions without having to worry about contract expiration. To keep prices aligned with spot markets, a funding rate mechanism is employed, facilitating periodic payments between long and short positions.

Initially popularized by BitMEX and later by FTX, perps have significantly contributed to the booming growth of the cryptocurrency sector, with monthly trading volumes escalating from $35 billion in 2018 to $6.4 trillion in 2025.

While FTX Global offered crypto perps with leverage up to 100 times, FTX US—where Harrison previously held the presidency—functioned as a distinctly regulated entity, refraining from providing similar products. Despite this, both exchanges collapsed in November 2022, following a crippling liquidity crisis that culminated in FTX’s bankruptcy filing.

High Risk and Increased Regulation

Though perps have thrived in the market, they are regarded as high-risk derivatives, attracting scrutiny from analysts and financial regulators. Fenni Kang, an executive at Coincall, cautioned in May that inexperienced traders should be wary, as “perps can be a ticking time bomb.”

In a conversation with Cointelegraph, Kang indicated that many traders over-leverage, resulting in catastrophic liquidations even with minor market fluctuations.

Moreover, perpetual futures have attracted increased regulatory attention. In 2023, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) expressed concerns regarding insufficient safeguards and settlement practices.

Nonetheless, perpetual trading remains central to the crypto sector, predominantly led by platforms like Binance, OKX, Bybit, and Bitget.