When one thinks about crypto options, most people’s first thought is “why bother with options if perpetual futures have embedded all the leverage we need already?” Our answer is straight forward: perps and options are different instruments, serving related but separate trading needs. Want to bet on volatility? Limit your downside while keeping unlimited upside? Create complex hedging strategies? Options allow you to do all that. And the market agrees – crypto options trading volume hit all-time highs in late 2023, and have continued their ascent throughout 2024. To offer some perspective, while Bitcoin options volume has already tripled its previous peak from the 2021 bull market, perpetual futures volume has yet to surpass its 2021 highs.
Although the promise is there, the ecosystem remains stunted by a number of structural challenges. Owing to its more complex nature, many crypto exchanges and incumbents lack the expertise to build the requisite option trading & risk management tools, leading to inefficient pricing, execution, and fragmented liquidity. Furthermore, infrastructure shortcomings are exacerbated by the ‘24/7’ nature of crypto markets, putting excessive demands on trading teams around the globe, and significantly raising the entry barrier for aspiring newcomers into the space. This is where SignalPlus has carved out and defined its unique business moat – delivering a turn-key, sophisticated trading & risk management platform, powered by a Wall Street grade pricing engine with AI & automation tools to institutionalize the crypto trading journey.
A Brotherhood Built on Shared Dreams
Chris and James first crossed paths during a JP Morgan pitch competition at Shanghai Jiao Tong University back in 2007, where they immediately bonded over a shared worldview: life was too short to settle for mediocrity. In their junior year, during China’s golden age of internet entrepreneurship, they almost dropped out of university to chase their first venture. Family pressure kept them in school, but that was just the start of their entrepreneurial journey.
While James went on to build successful ventures in mobile internet and enterprise SaaS, culminating in co-founding a company that reached Series C backing from Temasek and Hillhouse Capital, Chris honed his capital markets expertise at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. By 2017, Chris had established a consistent and profitable trading career, and was eager to revive his entrepreneurship spirit and began actively brainstorming startup ideas with James. Together they tried their hand at several ventures – a hedge fund, a government tech platform, and an MCN (multi-channel network) business. Although the first attempts didn’t pan out, they hit their stride with the MCN business, successfully generating a trade sale exit.
Never one to rest on his laurels, Chris immediately sought out his next venture idea, and by 2021 his journey triangulated towards the area of crypto options and their vast structural inefficiencies. Armed with his extensive knowledge of capital markets and confidence in James’ immense product and technical expertise, they joined forces once again with their complementary skill sets to establish the foundational genesis of SignalPlus as the leading options trading technology provider.
What truly sets Chris and James apart is their consistently ambitious vision, while having the proven discipline to play the long game to see things through. For example, instead of focusing on proprietary trading, the team was steadfast in perfecting their software solutions as a best-in-class offering, while having the wisdom to quickly establish the company as a corroborative partner with the industry’s largest exchanges and trading firms including Binance, Bybit, Deribit, Galaxy, OKX, Paradigm, amongst others. We saw this same mindset during our due diligence when Chris decided to upgrade their volatility model. Even though he knew it would hurt their numbers right in the middle of fundraising, he went ahead because it was the right thing to do. That’s the kind of founders we love to back – ones who have the courage to make tough calls for the long-term good of their business.
Revolutionizing Crypto Options Through Automation
SignalPlus enables traders to effectively participate in the crypto derivative market through automation, significantly reducing the operational complexity and manpower traditionally required. Their trading dashboard provides sophisticated risk analytics for institutional traders, while their automated market-making bot enables 24/7 liquidity provision without requiring massive teams. Most impressively, they’ve built automated risk management for exotic structured products, playing a crucial role in helping exchanges expand their options offerings. Their technology together with the close partnership with Binance, Bybit, Deribit and OKX have grown the options market 3-4x over the past 2 years.
The potential impact of SignalPlus extends far beyond crypto. Their automated trading infrastructure represents the future of all financial markets, where AI and automation will increasingly transform how trading is conducted. Chris and James aren’t just building tools for crypto – they’re pioneering the next evolution of trading technology. With their unique combination of institutional expertise and product innovation capabilities, we believe they’re perfectly positioned to lead this transformation.
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We’re thrilled to support Chris, James, and the SignalPlus team as they work to democratize access to sophisticated trading capabilities. If you’re a founder working on innovative solutions in fintech, trading infrastructure or AI, we’d love to hear from you.
