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About QFEX
QFEX was founded in 2025 by Cambridge mathematicians Annanay Kapila and Joshua Wharton, with a team drawn from top trading firms such as Citadel, Jump Trading, Optiver, and Tower Research Capital. The exchange is positioned as a hybrid perpetual futures platform, enabling 24/7 high-leverage trading on traditional financial assets.
In March 2026, QFEX completed a $9.5 million seed round led by General Catalyst, with participation from Y Combinator and other investors. This financing marked a key milestone in its development, providing capital for further expansion and reinforcing its ambition to disrupt traditional finance infrastructure.
QFEX, a hybrid perpetual exchange, has made significant strides in the past six months. In March 2026, it completed a $9.5 million seed round led by General Catalyst, with participation from Y Combinator and other notable investors, valuing the company at $95 million. The exchange officially launched in March 2026, offering 24/7 trading on US equities, indices, commodities, and FX via perpetual contracts, with leverage up to 50x. A key development was the CFTC Chairman's public statement in March 2026 on unveiling a crypto perpetual futures framework, signaling regulatory tailwinds. QFEX has also implemented a robust risk framework, including a 5-stage liquidation cascade, 100ms speed bump, and dynamic tick sizes to ensure fair trading. Customer assets are held in segregated custody at BitGo Bank.
Looking ahead, QFEX plans to launch its native token by June 30, 2026, aiming to anchor on-chain infrastructure for real-world assets (RWA). The token launch is seen as a critical test of the platform's utility and community support. The team, comprised of former staff from Citadel, Jane Street, and Tower Research, is focused on expanding product offerings and institutional participation. Key priorities include maintaining compliance through mandatory KYC, enhancing the perpetual contract engine, and potentially integrating with major RWA protocols. The roadmap emphasizes building a transparent, efficient, and accessible trading layer for traditional assets, leveraging the growing RWA market.
Annanay Kapila (Co-Founder & CEO): Studied mathematics at Cambridge, conducted quantum computing research, worked as a quantitative trader at Flow Traders and Tower Research Capital in London before founding QFEX.
Joshua Wharton (Co-Founder & CTO): Studied at Cambridge, worked as a software engineer (including at VMware and Citadel) before co-founding QFEX.