Ex-Coinbase workers, Gupta and McCreary, start stablecoin-focused crypto exchange

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18 September 2024 -(Bloomberg) — Two former high level Coinbase Global Inc. employees are launching a cryptocurrency platform called TrueX that will use PayPal Holdings Inc.’s stablecoin as its preferred token for transactions.

Prior to co-founding TrueX, Vishal Gupta was the head of exchange at Coinbase. He oversaw the launch of the USDC stablecoin while at Circle Internet Financial Ltd. Patrick McCreary previously served as a senior staff engineer at Coinbase. Both also worked at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Stablecoins such as PayPal’s PYUSD are designed to track the value of US dollars one-for-one and are primarily used as bridge currencies in and out of the crypto ecosystem, as well as a refuge from the price volatility of many digital tokens. The TrueX exchange will first be open to US-based institutions and some international institutions in certain regions.

“Our goal is to continue to innovate in the market space,” Gupta said. “And who better to do it than a team who has built many matching engines, who have run broker dealers, have worked at Goldman Sachs, launched one of the largest stablecoins in the world and run one of the biggest crypto exchanges in the world.”

TrueX is among the startups that are capitalizing on opportunities created by the blowup two years ago of FTX, once one of the largest crypto trading platforms. A group of former FTX and Alameda Research employees launched an exchange called Backpack Exchange, and EDX Markets, the crypto-trading venue backed by Citadel Securities and Fidelity Digital Assets went live last year.

Paxos Trust Co., the issuer of PYUSD for PayPal, will provide third-party custodian services to TrueX’s users. Paxos is also among the investors that participated the startup’s seed funding round, in which TrueX raised $9 million from venture investors including RRE Ventures, Hack VC, and Reciprocal Ventures.