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Veteran market maker Jump Trading forays into DeFi — to provide liquidity for FTX’s Solana-based DEX

DEX • September 3, 2020, 9:00AM EDT
UPDATED: September 3, 2020, 10:13AM EDT
The Block

Quick Take

  • Crypto and equities market maker Jump Trading is backing FTX’s new DEX Serum.
  • Announcing the news exclusively on The Scoop, The Block’s podcast, FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried said Jump has invested in Serum and will provide liquidity for the DEX.

Jump Trading, one of Chicago's storied high-frequency trading shops, is backing FTX's decentralized exchange Serum. 

Announcing the news exclusively on The Scoop, The Block's podcast, FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried said the high-speed trader and market maker would provide liquidity for the DEX. Jump has also invested a “significant” sum in Serum.

"As soon as you start thinking bigger, you need to throw a lot more at it," said Bankman-Fried. "And so we're really excited to be working with them [Jump] as you know [they're] kind of key sources [of] liquidity."

Jump is a veteran in the market making and high-speed trading space across assets, having been in operation since 1999. It is also known for being highly secretive with scant information about its business available on its website. Active in the crypto market, the firm provides liquidity across exchanges and powered the crypto unit of Robinhood when it launched in 2018. Its sister company Jump Capital is an active investor in the crypto market, having previously backed firms like BitGo, Bitnomial, Bitso, and Curv.

A source familiar with Jump's business said the company has continued to dive deeper into crypto and is starting to look at bigger deals. 

Bankman-Fried said Jump’s investment and partnership are a “huge display of confidence in what Serum is trying to achieve.” Indeed, Serum is Jump's first foray into the DeFi space.

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The DEX is built on Solana and went live last week, after first revealing its plans to The Block exclusively in July. Serum currently has markets for BTC, ETH, and Serum’s native tokens SRM and MSRM, with trading pairs against USDT and USDC for each.

Jump’s investment in Serum comes at a time when the decentralized finance (DeFi) space is continuing to make waves in the crypto market. Bankman-Fried said DeFi is poised for “incredible growth” in the future.

“We believe that the trading processes pioneered in the sector will have implications far beyond what we now call ‘DeFi.’ Our intention is to build the infrastructure that can help achieve that opportunity,” said Bankman-Fried, without disclosing specific details.

Full episode of The Scoop:


Disclaimer: The former CEO and majority shareholder of The Block has disclosed a series of loans from former FTX and Alameda founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Authors

Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things crypto. As one of the earliest team members, Yogita has played a pivotal role in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With nearly 3,000 articles under her belt, Yogita holds the records as The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Prior to joining The Block, Yogita worked at crypto publication CoinDesk and The Economic Times, where she wrote on personal finance. To contact her, email: [email protected]. For her latest work, follow her on X @Yogita_Khatri5.
Frank Chaparro is Host of The Scoop podcast and Director of Special Projects. He also writes a biweekly newsletter. Chaparro started his career at Business Insider, where he specialized in the intersection of digital assets and Wall Street, market structure, and financial technology. Soon after joining Business Insider out of Fordham University, Chaparro was interviewing top finance and tech executives, including billionaire Mark Cuban, “Flash Boys” star Brad Katsuyama, Cboe Global Markets CEO Ed Tilly, and New York Stock Exchange President Tom Farley. In 2018, he become a sought after reporter in the crypto world, interviewing luminaries such as Tyler Winklevoss, the cofounder of Gemini, Jeremy Allaire, the CEO of Circle, and Fundstrat head Tom Lee. For inquiries or tips, email [email protected].