Algo Trader hopes to become the preferred supplier for professional traders with anything traded on the blockchain, according to Algo Trader founder and CEO Andy Flury.
Earlier in the week, Algo Trader, an algorithmic trading software developer for quantitative hedge funds, closed a CHF 1.4m ($1.4m) round. NeueCapital Partners led the round, with the support of seed angel investors. Algo Trader’s valuation is in the ‘lower double digit CHF million’ range.
The platform automates the trading strategies in equity, forex and derivative markets, supporting the daily running operations. Algo recently launched software for automatic trading of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Switzerland-based Algo launched its cryptocurrency software after three of its clients had adapted to software to integrate with crypto exchanges, and so the company launched services to support the market, according to Flury. Cryptocurrency companies and exchanges do business differently and this can be challenging for traditional hedge funds, but Algo trader believes this is where it can help.
He added, “[We’re] In the transition where established hedge funds that maybe traded equities or derivatives are moving into the crypto space. We’re getting a lot of calls from existing clients that want to test the water with cryptocurrencies. Because we know both areas, traditional and crypto domains, we can guide their way into the new world.”
At the moment the main trading areas are bitcoin and ether; however, the company sees digital shares on the blockchain coming more prominent over the next few years. Flury said, “A few years from now, you won’t see physical shares anymore, they’ll all be on the blockchain and traded in a similar way to bitcoin and ether.”
Not only does Algo see shares being put on the blockchain, but also believes that currencies will move this way to. There have been various discussions regarding a blockchain-based Swiss franc that is linked to the actual currency. This is the direction Algo believes the world will go, and hopes to become the preferred professional trader for anything related on the blockchain.
The cryptocurrency market cap is still relatively low, and one of issues in the market at the moment is a low reliability for the current crypto exchanges. However, the sector is going to continue to evolve and over time equity and cryptocurrencies will come together.
He said, “What is interesting at the moment, is there is a lot of volatility and quintinite hedge funds are looking for volatility, drawing more and more capital in the space. In the mid-term, the areas are going to merge. If we’re seeing digital shares on the blockchain, eventually there’s not going to be a difference between the equity market and cryptocurrency market as they will be representing the same assets.”
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