Ep 70 – Bitcoin2019 – Chris Wittenborn – Velocity Markets

 
Chris Wittenborn,  Business Development and Strategy at
Velocity Markets

On episode 70 of LAB Radio, Velocity Markets’, Chris
Wittenborn chats with your host Chris Groshong
from Bitcoin2019. 


Chris first heard about Bitcoin back in 2010. He read the
whitepaper, but couldn’t get around the fact that he meet someone
in parking lot to buy bitcoins. After growing up in Chicago, he
moved to Colorado for better winters, great skiing and to pursue
a degree at the University of Colorado Boulder. He landed
a research job with a little finance firm locally and was
given some sage advice to go East.    


It was in 2011 when Chris headed to New York and where he really
dug into the financial world. In 2017 there was lots of rumblings
about the Institutional world coming into the crypto space. Being
on the Institutional side, he knew that ecosystem was not ready
to support Institutional grade customers. Therefore, he left to
start providing institutional consulting for Exchanges and
Private Equity companies building products. 
  “Shorthop is an institutional caliber exchange
technology in the hands of the retail user” -Chris Wittenborn 

 


Velocity Markets is the parent company for Shorthop, an
institutional caliber exchange technology in the hands of the
retail user. Shorthop aggregates liquidity across several markets
to provide its users the best possible price. The user no longer
has to worry about which exchange to transact on or moving funds
around. The user only has to focus on their desired outcomes,
Shorthop does the rest.  


 


 


They have different levels of services for different levels of
clients based on their sophistication. They really focus on
providing the user,  whether its a Hedge Fund or an
individual, with the best execution possible across a wide
variety of exchanges. Initially, they are launching in
California. Over the next several months, as they receive money
transmission licenses, they will be opening up their platforms to
other jurisdiction within the United States. 


Recently, Chris Wittenborn has been spending his time working on
leveraging their existing Broker/Dealer license to launch a
digital securities exchange. This exchange would be separate from
Shorthop and only be available to institutions and accredited
investors. Creating a secondary market for compliant offerings is
the future. The company Circle was recently able to achieve this,
which is promising for Chris and the Velocity Markets team.


 
In this episode Chris Wittenborn discusses:  

Insight to the advice he was giving companies building for
institutional clients

Bitcoin Volatility and whether aggregating price
will reduce volatility. 

Their efforts to launch a Finra registered digital securities
asset exchange component.

How he approaches is job and how he stays engaged.

How he and his cofounders came together.

What he would change about the industry.



 


 


Further Reading and Resources:


 


  Chris Wittenborn, Business Development and
Strategy at Velocity
Markets | LinkedIn | Twitter | Email 


 


 


Velocity
Markets | Website | Twitter | LinkedIn