Digital Assets Platform FalconX Expands Global Presence to Singapore

Matt Long, General Manager, and Ave King, Head of Compliance, Hired to Scale Asia Pacific Growth as Company Announces Launch of OTC Derivatives Trading Business across APAC

February 22, 2023 - FalconX, a prime brokerage, announced expansion of its services into Singapore. Matt Long has joined FalconX as General Manager and Ave King as Chief Compliance Officer, both based in Singapore.

Alongside these hires, FalconX is also launching its OTC derivatives business in Singapore to service institutional clients across APAC, augmenting its leading position in the United States as the first and only CFTC-registered cryptocurrency swap dealer also registered with the National Futures Association (NFA).

The international expansion follows an $8 billion valuation after a $150 million Series D funding round led by B Capital and GIC, the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore in 2022.

FalconX believes that Singapore is well-positioned as a digital assets hub which is central to global capital and asset management flows. According to a CityAM report, it is the 4th most "Crypto Ready" city in the world, following London, New York, and Dubai.

"Expanding internationally to Singapore is a strategic move, as it's known globally for its heavy investment in the future of blockchain and digital finance," said CEO Raghu Yarlagadda. "With Matt and Ave at the helm, the Singapore team is poised to accelerate FalconX's growth in APAC as we continue to shape the future of finance on a global scale."

FalconX continues to see demand from a diverse range of institutional market participants, including some of the world's largest financial institutions, hedge funds, asset managers, venture capital firms, payment providers, family offices and investment applications. 

"Our goal is to provide Singapore and APAC institutions access to our world-leading expertise in digital asset OTC derivatives and as we seek to obtain the appropriate licenses in Singapore and across APAC, deliver the complete FalconX prime solution which includes access to the world's deepest pools of spot liquidity, staking, credit, portfolio margining, reporting and risk management," said Long. 

Long, who will help grow the business in Singapore and the greater Asia-Pacific region, brings over 20 years of experience across digital assets, traditional financial markets and technology and investing in disruptive businesses.

Immediately prior to joining FalconX, Long was Managing Director and Head of Prime Brokerage and SaaS at institutional digital asset platform OSL. He has also run traditional finance sales, trading, derivative and asset management businesses globally, with specific expertise in APAC markets.

Ave King's appointment as Chief Compliance Officer, APAC, will focus on managing compliance across international entities including securing relevant regulatory licenses, where appropriate. King will play a key role in continuing to build out the global regulatory compliance and AML program. King has more than 20 years of experience and prior to joining FalconX, King held roles at Bitstamp, Coinbase, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan.