Wonder

Research Outline

Prepared for Ron G. | Delivered October 24, 2019

OTC Exchange Network

Goals

To help inform an investment decision in Prycto by evaluating its top competitor, the OTC Exchange Network. The evaluation should be focused on OTC Exchange Network's go-to-market progress, and specifically on funding raised, the quality of the founding team, and any partnership agreements signed.

Early Findings

OTC Exchange NetworkOTC Exchange Network is a provider of a blockchain-based Forex trading platform. The company uses asset digitization, real-time collateral management and an array of institutional trading venues to organize global liquidity and make it tradable via a single account at any custodian on its P2P trading platform.
If successful, OTC Exchange Network would eliminate counterparty and settlement risk, without becoming a counterparty to transactions itself. It will remove credit intermediation, first in Forex trading, and then in the wider capital markets.
FundingOTC Exchange Network raised $3 million in a Series A funding round. The funding round was announced on September 28, 2016, and completed in April 2017.
The company also received $10.5 million in funding in a Series B funding round, bringing the total funding amount to $13.5 million. The Series B round was announced on November 1, 2017, and completed in February 2018.
OTC Exchange Network also appears to have announced a Series A2 funding round for $1.35 million at the end of February 2018, although details on this round are extremely scarce.
AcquisitionsOTC Exchange Network acquired Ogg Trading, LLC in order to accelerate its time-to-market. The acquisition was completed on June 18, 2018. 
Ogg Trading is a "provider of advanced institutional trading technology," specifically for Forex markets. Ogg Trading previously ran a dark pool in partnership with Bloomberg.
In addition to the dark pool platform, OTC Exchange Network plans to implement Ogg Trading's liquidity aggregator and smart order router systems in its quote-driven marketplace product.
PartnershipsOTC Exchange Network has signed numerous partnerships with cryptocurrency and financial services companies to increase its presence in the FinTech space.
It partnered with Securitize, a cryptocurrency startup, to collaborate on a Digital Security Offering service.
OTC Exchange Network signed a deal with OSL, that became a Core Liquidity Provider in cryptocurrencies for the network.
The startup also onboarded several financial institutions to its network, including Prime Trust, Kingdom Trust, Tyr Capital GmbH, TokenSuisse, and Fractal Wealth.
Founding TeamOTC Exchange Networks' founding team consists of Rosario Ingargiola (founder and CEO), David Ogg (head of fx and trading ventures), who joined after the acquisition of Ogg Trading, John Morris (chief strategy officer), Vivek Bhandari
 (senior director of engineering), and Rutie Zhou (principal engineer).
 Rosario Ingargiola, who founded the company, previously founded FXone Seabury, a Forex trading technology provider, and Alphacet an algorithmic trading platform. He has a 70/100 CEO approval rating on Owler.
CompetitorsSome possible competitors of the OTC Exchange Network include tZero, Paxos, AXONI, and Pirum.
Paxos and tZero focus on real-world asset tokenization — creating digital tokens collateralized by real-world assets using blockchain technology.
AXONI and Pirum focus on offering financial technology solutions to institutional investors. AXONI is more focused on providing blockchain technology systems, while Prium provides finance automation services.