financemagnates.com
After collaborating with legal departments of the world's largest investment banks, Daniel Lo has just joined the Acheron Trading team. As Finance Magnates exclusively learned, the expert with over 12 years of experience in financial law has become the new Chief Legal Officer (CLO) of the crypto market maker, which significantly increased its trading volume in 2024.
Lo Moves From Traditional Finance to Cryptocurrencies
Lo moved to Acheron from Cake Group, a Web3-related company, where he served as CLO for over two years. Previously, however, he built his experience in the world of "old finance." He worked as Legal Counsel for UBS in Singapore for two years and as a Derivatives Negotiator in the Canadian branch of RBC Capital Markets.
"Acheron Trading has long stood out to me for its commitment to transparency and accountability in the fast-evolving crypto market," Lo commented exclusively for Finance Magnates. "I look forward to building with this talented team during this significant period of growth and innovation."
Acheron has been operating in the crypto market-making space for six years, collaborating with 400 different issuers. The year's first half brought a several-fold increase in realized volumes, hence the need to hire a new expert in regulatory, legal, and compliance matters.
Acheron Trading Volumes on the Rise
The new appointment comes as the firm expands its team to handle a 369.6% increase in year-over-year trading volumes for the first half of 2024. The company has also added new staff in its quantitative trading, quantitative development, and sales departments, recruiting from companies such as SpaceX and Interactive Brokers.
Acheron's expansion comes amid a broader surge in the cryptocurrency market. The firm reported that assets brought to market in the first half of 2024 have outperformed all of 2023 by 233%. This growth has been fueled by factors including Bitcoin's market cap crossing $1 trillion in February and speculation about a potential Ethereum ETF.
Wesley Pryor, founder of Acheron Trading, noted the company's need to adapt its traditionally lean operational strategy “to scale with the industry and keep pace with increasing trading levels and greater regulatory measures.”
“Daniel’s appointment and the many others we have just made underscore Acheron Trading’s unwavering commitment to meet the evolving needs of our clientele. Both the individual and collective professional experiences of our new hires are invaluable to our strategy as we rise to this new tide of activity,” Pryor added.
Crypto Sector Highly Concentrated
The company also highlighted changes in market dynamics, including an extension of the initial price discovery phase for new assets from an average of 1.2 days to 6 days. However, the firm noted that the sector remains highly concentrated, with the top eight largest exchanges accounting for more than 90% of global market depth.
"As a trusted principal and designated market maker, we must scale in order to meet the demands of our clients who are driving the industry forward," added Laurent Benayoun, CEO of Acheron Trading, emphasizing the need to scale operations to meet client demands. “By strengthening our QT, QD, and sales teams, we are continuing the provision of a transparent and symbiotic MM offering.”
Acheron's recent growth is also part of a broader initiative that has seen the company make several key moves in recent years. The firm has diversified its offerings by introducing a principal market-making service and developing Command Station, an in-house trading infrastructure platform. Additionally, Acheron has formed new partnerships, including a collaboration with the tech incubator forgd.com. The company also bolstered its technological capabilities through the acquisition of HedgeTech, a Boston-based firm specializing in algorithmic market-making solutions, in 2022.
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