2 Citadel Securities Alumni Launch HFT Crypto Trading Firm 'Portofino Technologies'

September 15, 2022 - Two former Citadel Securities leaders, Leonard Lancia and Alex Casimo, have launched Portofino Technologies and have raised over US$50 million in equity funding from Valar Ventures, Global Founders Capital and Coatue.

Portofino is building high-frequency trading (HFT) grade technology for digital assets. Today, it provides liquidity on the largest centralised and decentralised cryptocurrency exchanges and provides services to institutions and Web3 projects that require digital asset liquidity. Portofino’s innovative approach, technology and network have enabled it to build successful partnerships in the Web3 ecosystem, and support some of the most exciting Web3 projects and protocols.

Since its establishment, Portofino has been building its market-leading HFT technology to deploy its liquidity provisioning algorithms. Over the past year, it has traded billions of dollars across centralised and decentralised cryptocurrency venues, and hired a team of 35+ HFT specialists globally. The startup’s competitive advantage is its superior proprietary technology that leverages advanced machine learning and stochastic control techniques to provide its clients and partners with the best pricing in the market. Portofino’s vision is to scale its technology across the full crypto infrastructure value chain.

Leonard Lancia, CEO and Founder at Portofino said, “Having worked at the forefront of the modernization of traditional markets, we believe that our liquidity provisioning infrastructure can deliver enormous benefits to digital asset participants globally, and drive the next leg of adoption. This is only the start for Portofino. In Web3, every action is a transaction and we’re building the underlying technology that is going to enable entirely new services and industries in the future”.

Alex Casimo, COO and Founder at Portofino said, “Only the firms with market-leading technology will be able to realise the enormous opportunities available in the growing Web3 ecosystem. That’s why we decided to build Portofino as a tech company, not a trading firm. We’re thrilled to be working with some of the world’s leading investors and our stellar team on this journey.”

James Fitzgerald, Founding Partner at Valar Ventures said, “As the digital assets market continues to grow rapidly in size and complexity, Portofino’s proprietary technology, which enables the frictionless transfer of digital assets, will become more and more important for institutional and retail participants in the space. We have been impressed by Leo and Alex’s ability to execute and how they have managed the stormy waters in the crypto market over the past months.”

Oliver Samwer, Founder at Global Founders Capital said, “We’re really excited about the potential of Portofino. It’s rare that you find a founding team with such fantastic expertise to solve the problems that digital asset market participants face today. We are convinced this is the right team to help facilitate the next leg of institutional and retail participation in this market.”