Company Profiles

Delivered April 11th, 2019. Contributors: Rosalind R., Cherry B., ChristianN, Foni U., Josh T. and

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Company Profile - Jump Trading

 Jump Trading, LLC, is a market leader in high-frequency trading that specializes in utilizing sophisticated algorithmic strategies in trading. The proprietary trading firm relies heavily on its innovative system and versatility. All relevant information has been documented in row 2 and columns C-K, of the attached spreadsheet.  

In order to obtain the required information for the trading firm, Jump Trading LLC, we began our search by looking into its official website. However, apart from the operating regions, links to its LinkedIn company profile, career portal, and disclaimers, the website did not provide any information on the company’s history, operational details, financial data, employee data, or insights into its future target market. The reason for limited data published on their website can be due to the fact that the firm maintains high levels of exclusivity. We then expanded our search to include industry-specific websites such as SFGate; company-profiler websites such as Bloomberg and Crunchbase; and media websites such as Forbes, Financial Times, Chicago Business, and FN London. Through these channels, we were able to find relevant information pertaining to the company’s history timeline, competitive advantage, service area, company financials, consumer base, licenses, employee structure, and future prospects. 

Jump Trading LLC 
History
Established in the year 1999 by Bill Disomma and Paul Gurinas in Chicago, Jump Trading is a proprietary trading company that specializes in algorithmic trading. While the firm began its journey by operating in the open outcry environment in 1999, Jump Trading has evolved in doing most of their trading through electronic means today. Since its inception, Jump Trading has made significant investments into high-speed trading infrastructure and technology, including the purchase of a microwave tower in 2013, which once belonged to NATO. The firm began actively trading in Singapore and London in the year 2009. 

In the year 2014, the proprietary firm was subpoenaed for its trading strategies by Eric Schneiderman, the former New York Attorney General, along with five other high-speed trading firms. 

In 2012, the founding partners of Jump Trading founded a venture capital firm named Jump Capital. By 2016, Jump Capital was found to have invested in over 30 different companies. Jump Trading is a member of various exchanges that include the New York Stock Exchange, CME Group, the London Stock Exchange, and Eurex. The company generates $6.3 million in annual revenue and has over 251-500 employees. 
Competitive Advantage: 
Its biggest strength is that it is a "globally-positioned" firm with a high reputation that relies on sophisticated strategies for trading. Furthermore, the firm is an industry leader in exploring, creating, and testing new strategies that benefit their clients. Jump Trading LLC believes that its success is due to its commitment to innovation, human capital, and technology.  
Future Prospects: 
The firm's objective is to move trading from bitcoin chat-rooms, phone calls, and Skype calls, to a platform that is designed for large crypto-electronic trading. Jump Trading is developing a graphical user interface that allows "counterparties to interact with Jump on a desktop" without connecting to trading exchanges externally. Jump Trading is working on expanding its reach within the cryptocurrency market. 

The required information has been documented in row 2, columns C-K, of the attached spreadsheet. 

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Company Profile - XTX

XTX Markets is considered to be a pioneer in FinTech sector. The company is also an award-winning electronic market-maker since their establishment in 2015. XTX Markets also claims to offer leading financial technology for fair and efficient markets. The company defines themselves as the leading quantitative-driven electronic market-maker. As of 2017, the net revenue of XTX Markets was £154.6 million with a profit of £60.98 million. 

All the required information has been entered into the spreadsheet here. An overview of the findings have been provided below.
OverviewXTX Markets was founded by Alex Gerko, a PhD holder in Mathematics from Moscow University. Alex Gerko named his company 'XTX' based on linear regression formula in trading strategy. XTX Markets is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with Firm Reference Number 711945 and is validated as an investment firm in France by the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) under CIB number 13283. According to their official LinkedIn page, XTX has 51 to 200 employees working for them. Based on the information from Leaprate, the company has 100 employees. 

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Company Profile - Virtue

 Virtue Fintech is a blockchain crypto house promoting the future secure and confidential trade of decentralized data. Operating globally, Virtue Fintech focuses on building blockchain promotions, applications, funding and exchange for various enterprises. The attached spreadsheet contains all our findings pertaining to Virtue. These have been outlined in row 4, column C — J.
METHODOLOGYExtensive research was carried out to locate information about the blockchain company Virtue Fintech. We were unable to find information on the company's history, financials as well as their licenses. Below we discuss the steps taken to find these sets of information.

When looking for the history of Virtue Fintech, we visited the company’s website and searched their site to get a clearer idea of their past. Although we found information about the functioning of the company no direct information was found pointing towards their date of establishment or any past footprints made. We also used the opportunity to check for the financials of the company. In search of this, we checked for financial reports. However, there were none.

In search of information on the history of Virtue, we searched their social media pages, more specifically Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. However, none of these pages provided information on their history.

In addition to the above, we checked the Better Business Bureau website for information on what services Virtue has provided in the past. However, that source provided no information in relation to its history.

We continued our search for Virtue's financials. To do this, we first checked the company's website. Here we noticed that there was no indication of any financial data mentioned on the website. We then turned to databases such as Crunchbase, Bloomberg, as well as Hoovers. However, none of these databases even mentions Virtue as a company. Instead, we found on other fintech startups.

We then searched the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission website for their financial reporting or similar information. However, we found no information in relation to the company's financials. While articles were present surrounding the Fintech industry, there was no data specifically regarding Virtue Fintech as a company.

In terms of the license of Virtue, we searched their website. There was however no sign of any licensing on their website. We found information on who they are as well as their services.

Still, in search of information on their license, we searched USA Corporate. Here we found nothing. Based on our efforts, we have concluded that Virtue has not published its financials, its history or license in the public domain.

FINDINGSUpon inception Virtue was established as a full-service blockchain development crypto house focused on building blockchain promotions, applications, funding and exchange for various enterprises.

In the history of the company, Virtue Fintech, a blockchain BPO/ITO company, was founded by chairman Dr. Wan Hasni. No updates have been made on the company since 2018.

Competitively, Virtue Fintech strives to create a highly secure decentralized data marketplace to host startups and developers for trade. Noting the privacy issues that come with decentralized data, Virtue Fintech has a protocol solution "Trust Protocol." With the different sources and supportive data they plan to host on this platform, their objective is to bring together a community which can collaborate, learn, inspire and build with each other. Providing a platform for trade and storage using cryptocurrency, Virtue Tech provides a service that is of growing popularity in the marketplace, depicting both exchange and trade. 
Based on the information gathered from their website, we see that Virtue Fintech has operations globally, with no specific mention of countries or areas of functioning.

The blockchain company appeals to consumers/enterprises who require some form of blockchain promotions, funding, exchange, or applications. Virtue Fintech targets future consumers wanting to join the marketplace of decentralized data around cryptocurrency trade and storage.

Operating with five core members who lead the company, Chairman: Dr. Wan Hasni, Head of Marketing: Nigesh Armon, Head of Sales: Nor Aemon, Head of Human Resource: Afdha Yusof, and Head of Exchange Operations: Jessica Chuah, Virtue Fintech also has nine departments. These include Crypto Settlement having three members, crypto capital markets having two members, Creative Content Media, two legal advisors, crypto brokers having six members, two crypto traders, DAPP & Blockchain Development, IT and Infrastructure having four members and a team of crypto researchers.

These findings have been captured on the attached spreadsheet.

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Company Profile - Circle

Circle founding service was a bitcoin and other digital currencies payment services for both businesses and consumers. Our findings have been presented on the attached spreadsheet row 5.
HistoryCircle is based in Boston, US. It was founded by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville in 2013 and raised $140 million in venture capital. The company's App (Circle Pay) was the first to be granted a BitLicense for operating bitcoin exchanges. Circle was also granted an electronic money license by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and in 2016, the app's focus shifted to peer-to-peer payments. 

The company processed over $1 billion in transactions and witnessed an increase in its customer base in 2016. It expanded its payment services to China in 2017 where it stated its focus on enabling the flow of payments going in or out of China. 

In 2017, Circle was the biggest crypto asset trader in the world according to a statement by Jeremy Allaire. Circle offers 4 main products; Poloniex, Circle Pay, Circle Invest and Circle Trade. Poloniex and Circle Invest were launched in 2018, Circle Trade and Circle Pay App were launched in 2014. 
Supported countriesCircle's services is currently available in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK and US. 
CustomersIt's target customers are users of payment apps.
FinancialsThe CEO of Circle, Jeremy Allaire declined to disclose the company’s revenues but stated the company has been profitable. 
Circle has 7 million customers, has received total funding of $246 million and has a market value of $3 billion. 
Competitive advantageIt is one of the largest crypto finance companies in the world.
Circle uses open standards and protocols to build their products, unlike other existing systems.
Their Poloniex platform is one of the world's largest crypto exchanges. 
EmployeesCircle had about 400 employees at the end of 2018. Jeremy Allaire is the CEO, Sean Neville is the president of Products and Operations, Josh Hawkins VP of Marketing, Elisabeth Carpenter Chief People Officer.
Future plansThe company plans to provide the kind of fundamental market infrastructure that is needed to realize the possibilities of the global digital economy built on crypto, and build consumer products that touch potentially hundreds of millions or billions of people over time that utilize that infrastructure. 
LicensesCircle is regulated by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN") in the US and regulated as an Electronic Money Institution by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK.
In some states in the US, Circle is licensed as a money transmitter.

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Company Profile - Cumberland

Cumberland is a company that in its early days "originally focused on cryptocurrency mining." The requested information about Cumberland is included in the attached spreadsheet. Below is an overview of our research findings about Cumberland.
Founding Product/ServiceThe founding service that Cumberland originally launched at its inception was crypto asset trading. 
Company historyCumberland was established in 2014. It is a subsidiary of the "principal trading firm" DRW. In its early days, the company "originally focused on cryptocurrency mining." In 2015, the company began trading cryptocurrencies. In the month of May in year 2018, Cumberland provided its customers with the option to trade 24/7. Just recently, "[i]n February of 2019," the company "unveiled . . . [its] platform called Marea that allows institutional investors to interact with Cumberland through a screen-based interface, rather than negotiating trades by phone or Skype." One month later in March, one of the company's top leaders, Jim Radecki, left the company after having worked for Cumberland for 18 months. 
competitive advantagesCumberland's likely top competitive advantage is that it offers its customers the option to trade cryptocurrencies 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Cumberland is thought to be the leading company for such offering. On its website, Cumberland indicates its four competitive advantages, though does not directly reference them as such. The first competitive advantage is its 24/7 trading option. The company describes that in stating: "Our global footprint enables us to provide around-the-clock trades and same-day responsiveness." 

The second competitive advantage is the numerous cryptoassets (more than 40) that it services. The company describes that competitive advantage in stating that it is "[o]ne of the world’s leading liquidity providers in cryptoassets offering frictionless access for our counterparties to this emerging asset class." The third competitive advantage is the "world-class-trading experience" that the company offers. The company describes that advantage in stating that it is "[d]edicated to timely counterparty communication and settlement with professional onboarding, value-added services, and relationship management." Lastly, the fourth competitive advantage is the "reporting and insight" offerings that the company provides, which it describes as "[c]omprehensive, on-demand settlement summaries, plus institutional-grade reporting and market insights across regions globally."
service areaCumberland has offices in the United States (Chicago), United Kingdom (London), Singapore, and Japan (Tokyo). Cumberland's website states that it has a "global footprint." 
company financialsThe only financial information that we found about Cumberland specifically is that the company's total trading volume in 2017 was over $20 billion. In addition, we also found the revenue and profit of a prominent subsidiary of DRW, which is DRW Investments, LLC. We included that financial information because, in DRW's words, "Cumberland . . . [is] a DRW Company." In 2016, DRW Investments' revenue was $454.8 million. That same year, DRW Investments' profit was $245.6 million. 
consumer baseCumberland's consumer base consists of individuals and entities. Specifically, the company states that it "is the counterparty of choice for institutions and individuals looking for access to opportunities in the cryptoasset space." Also, another source stated that "DRW’s primary clients are bitcoin whales." 
licenseWe could not find any information about the type of regulatory license that the company uses to operate. We looked for that information using three research strategies. First, we looked through the company's website, but there was no such information there. Second, we looked through numerous articles about the company and further searched for articles specifically about licensing. Some of the articles we reviewed were published by Financial Times and Bloomberg. However, not one of the articles we reviewed said anything about the company's licensing. For our third strategy, we reviewed DRW's website for any information about Cumberland's licensing because Cumberland is a DRW subsidiary. While there was some basic information about Cumberland on the site, the information was general company overview information and did not state anything about licensing.
Employee StructureCumberland has 40 employees in its Singapore office, which is the company's only office in Asia. By 2023, that employee count in Singapore is expected to total 100. Those numbers are considerable since in 2017 only "[a]bout 12 of DRW's 800 employees . . . were involved in trading crypto-currencies." In terms of employee structure, we found that the company has the following positions: Global Head of Trading; Chief Operating Officer; Director of Strategy; Global Head of Business Development; Head of Market Structure; Junior Trader, Cryptoassets; Operations Analyst; Relationship Manager, Cryptoassets; Senior Software Engineer, Cryptoassets; and UX/UI Software Engineer, Cryptoassets. 
Future ProspectsCumberland is very focused on expanding into the Asian cryptocurrency market in the future. As Cumberland's COO stated: "Asia is a big opportunity for us. We dominate the market in the US and we are trying to bring that liquidity to Asia where there is tons of activity." This focus on Asia is also shown in the company's plan to significantly increase its number of employees in its Singapore office. 

Did this report spark your curiosity?

Sources

From Part 01

A secretive Chicago trading firm is planning to move bitcoin trading out of chatrooms and into the 21st century

sfgate.com

Publication Year: 2018

It’s Not The Pits

forbes.com

Publication Year: 2006

HFT power Jump Trading

chicagobusiness.com

Publication Year: 2014

NY attorney-general subpoenas high-frequency traders| Financial Times

ft.com

Publication Year: 2014

Why Chicago’s best traders are moving into venture capital

chicagobusiness.com

Publication Year: 2016

Staff costs weigh on Jump’s UK profits

fnlondon.com

Publication Year: 2013

Wall Street Buys NATO Microwave Towers in Quest for Speed

bloomberg.com

Publication Year: 2014

From Part 02

Company Profile

docs.google.com

XTX Markets

xtxmarkets.com

XTX Markets Sees Surge in Profit and Revenue for 2017 | Finance Magnates

financemagnates.com

Publication Year: 2018

Quotes

"Net trading revenue for the year ended December 31, 2017, came in at £154.6 million. This was an increase from 2016, which reported net revenue of £131.9 million."

XTX Markets | Mix Interiors

mixinteriors.com

Publication Year: 2018

XTX MArkets - Linkedin

linkedin.com

Market maker XTX Markets sees Revenues of £154M in 2017, £61M profits

leaprate.com

Publication Year: 2018

Quotes

"XTX Markets is a quantitative-driven electronic market-maker partnering with counterparties, exchanges and e-trading venues globally to provide liquidity in the Equity, FX, Fixed Income and Commodity markets. The company has about 100 employees, about half of them in the company’s UK offices, and does about $120 billion of daily trading volume across a variety of asset classes."

Streaming liquidity provider of the year: XTX Markets - Risk.net

risk.net

Publication Year: 2018

Quotes

"“We have more than doubled the client list this year,” says Matt Clarke, head of distribution for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at XTX Markets, which now boasts 180 clients that the firm streams forex prices to directly."
"“We always had a retail and regional bank client base, but we’ve started to add macro hedge funds and even a few asset managers, which is difficult because it’s not a cleared product and you can’t necessarily provide liquidity to them through FX prime brokers,” says Clarke. The result has been a 65% jump in the firm’s bilateral forex volumes and growth that easily outpaces the 50% volume increase for 2017. "