Ex-JP Morgan and Dresdner Kleinwort traders launch crypto prop platform

Velotrade, a Hong Kong-based firm founded by former institutional derivatives traders from JPMorgan and Dresdner Kleinwort, has unveiled its funded trading platform that provides traders with capital while sharing profits based on performance, according to a Friday statement.

Crypto proprietary trading is a model that allows traders to trade digital assets using capital provided by a proprietary trading firm rather than their own funds.

To access a funded account, most retail models require traders to pass a challenge that evaluates profitability and risk discipline. If successful, traders will receive a funded account and earn a share of the profits, provided they continue to follow the firm’s trading rules and risk limits.

Built from scratch for crypto trading, Velotrade’s framework removes restrictions such as consistency rules, time limits, and news or weekend trading bans, the company stated.

The platform uses institutional liquidity bridges and AI-driven hedging to mirror trader positions, ensuring the firm only earns when traders succeed.

“We are not here to collect challenge fees and hope people fail,” Gianluca Pizzituti, CEO and co-founder of Velotrade. “Our revenue model is tied to trader performance. That changes everything about how you design rules, and how you treat the people trading your capital.”

Velotrade offers traders access to prop accounts ranging from $5,000 to $200,000 without requiring personal capital at risk.

The platform focuses exclusively on crypto assets with up to 6x leverage on Bitcoin and Ethereum. Payouts are available after 14 days, then weekly on request, processed in USDC or USDT.

Velotrade brings combined institutional experience spanning three decades. Vittorio De Angelis, executive chairman, traded equity derivatives at JP Morgan and Dresdner Kleinwort before rising to co-head of equity derivatives at Bank of America.

Pizzituti previously operated a proprietary high-frequency trading operation focused on foreign exchange and equity indices in Singapore before establishing the original Velotrade trade finance business in Hong Kong.

The founding team previously built Velotrade Management Limited, a trade finance platform established in 2016 that has distributed more than $2.5 billion to clients globally and continues to operate.