TradFi Is Adopting Crypto’s Best Innovations

Описание: In this episode of the DCo Podcast, Saurabh Deshpande speaks with Brett Harrison, Founder of Architect and former President of FTX US, about what he learned building inside FTX, why the next phase of crypto market growth requires serious regulation, and how Architect is bringing perpetual futures to traditional asset classes.

Brett walks through his time at FTX US, what it actually took to pursue licenses in the United States, and why any financial product that scales inevitably converges toward regulatory oversight. From there, the conversation shifts to Architect’s core thesis: combine the product innovation of crypto with the compliance and risk frameworks institutions expect.

Topics covered in this conversation:
■ Why Brett joined FTX and what he experienced building FTX US
■ The regulatory path in the US: broker-dealer status, clearing, and licensing strategy
■ Why durable financial infrastructure cannot avoid regulation
■ Architect’s exchange (AX) and the thesis behind regulated perpetual futures
■ Perps on FX, metals, single stocks, indexes, energy, and even compute
■ Stablecoins as collateral and 24/7 global market access
■ Why legacy venues limit access for most of the world
■ Liquidation design, risk controls, and why DEX rulebooks break in volatile markets
■ Price discovery, index construction, and funding rate mechanics
■ What the market misunderstood about FTX and where crypto goes next

Chapters
00:00 Why Brett joined FTX and what he learned
01:05 Building FTX US and pursuing regulation
03:12 Broker-dealer licensing and acquiring LedgerX
05:48 What Architect is building with AX
07:26 Why institutions require centralized oversight
09:44 Stablecoins and 24/7 markets
12:18 The challenge of user acquisition in trading venues
15:34 Perpetuals vs traditional futures
19:52 Regulation as a feature, not a constraint
24:10 Lessons from FTX’s collapse
28:47 Liquidations and market stress scenarios
34:21 Price indexes and funding mechanics
40:37 Licensing roadmap and long-term strategy
45:56 Compute indexes and expanding asset classes
50:43 Final thoughts on the future of market structure

At the core of the conversation is a structural question: if crypto’s best innovation was product design, what happens when that design meets institutional-grade compliance? Architect’s bet is that perpetual futures can expand beyond crypto, unlocking global access to markets that are still siloed behind legacy exchanges, expensive brokers, and limited trading hours.

Instead of treating regulation as the enemy of innovation, Brett argues it may be the unlock for institutional adoption. Stablecoins reduce settlement friction. Perps simplify exposure. But without robust risk management, licensing, and transparency, large pools of capital will stay on the sidelines.

This episode is a grounded look at what post-FTX crypto infrastructure might look like and how regulated perpetual markets could reshape access to global financial instruments.

Guest
Brett Harrison
Founder, Architect
X: https://x.com/BrettHarrison

Host
Saurabh Deshpande
Director of Research, Decentralised
X: https://x.com/desh_saurabh

About Decentralised & the DCo Podcast
Decentralised publishes research and conversations for founders, investors, and operators who want to understand how crypto and Web3 are evolving beneath the noise. The DCo Podcast features long-form discussions with builders shaping regulation, market structure, tokenized assets, and cross-market infrastructure.

Read more: https://www.decentralised.co/

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