A stretch eight blocks long within Lower Manhattan’s financial district is the world’s economic epicenter. Wall Street is where people come to make their dreams come true, but little is said about how nightmarish working there can be. The industry of financial services has been evolving consistently over time, from trading floors of swearing brokers to the silent computer-based electronic trading systems of today. On Wall Street, money most certainly talks, but despite the New York Stock Exchange being comprised of assets worth $28.5 trillion, there’s much left to be said.

A common claim on Wall Street is that history doesn’t repeat, but rhymes. On multiple occasions, centralized financial systems have had their inefficiencies exposed, causing markets and investor portfolios to crash in spectacular fashion. Investors, traders, and analysts are constantly studying historical market events, but no amount of knowledge could have prepared Jack Tao, Phemex’s co-founder, for how unfair financial systems were towards retail investors. 

When Jack started working at Morgan Stanley in 2009, he started to see the system’s true form.  The trade censorship, fee inflation, insider trading, and private exclusive deals presented him with a system that appeared biased towards the celebrated and the affluent.

Phemex is comprised of two words — ‘Pheme,’ the God of fame and renown according to Greek mythology, who was known for taking the public’s side, and ‘mercantile exchange’ or ‘MEX’ for short. Phemex was made because today’s financial systems aren’t perfect, but they can be, and aims to create an environment where none can be stamped out, and all are given a fair chance at winning.

Jack’s primary objective was to reinvent financial services, restarting the system to provide every market participant with an equal shot. In his search for an environment to carry out his vision, Jack came across blockchain. Having entered the realm of digital assets as a Bitcoin miner, he even signed up for an account on an established exchange to dig deeper into the asset class. However, non-existent regulatory frameworks, corporate loopholes, and other technicalities led to him losing most of his investments after a system malfunction. Jack wasn’t upset — just disappointed.

Jack believed digital assets upheld the ideals of monetary freedom, dispersed control, and sovereignty, but he soon understood that these morals were only being showcased on the surface. This is how Phemex was formed.

In 2019, backed by eight other executives from Morgan Stanley, Jack co-founded Phemex to help decentralized the global economy, developing an arena where silver spoons didn’t help, and regular spoons weren’t disfavored.

Dispersing Control

With money, centralization has always been the dominant route, especially since no currency has ever sustained itself without centralized intermediaries before Bitcoin. Blockchain is mankind’s response to the inefficiencies of centralized financial institutions and their capital management practices, allowing for decentralized control and global trade without borders, trust, or permissions.

Today, Phemex is one of the world’s most renowned cryptocurrency derivatives exchanges, catering to its 1.5 million-strong user-base and facilitating $266 billion in trade volume every quarter.

Built from the combined efforts of Wall Street veterans, Phemex was designed to address the issues that exist in traditional finance, and bring digital assets to layman audiences using its incredibly efficient trading engine, intuitive UI/UX, and active interactions with its community. Financial experts have been playing for the establishment for far too long, and it’s time they put their minds together for the people. Over the last couple of years, Phemex has brought them together to build the most authentic, secure digital asset ecosystem the world has ever seen.

Break Through, Break Free

Inefficient middlemen are breaking the world’s financial systems, and the invention of digital assets was catalyzed by this shared sentiment, allowing any individual to transact outside the limitations of the traditional system. Stock markets represent assets worth more than $80 trillion globally, and so many numbers moving across a screen can make it hard to remember that real people are involved in each of these markets.

This month, a complete visual redesign is being applied to Phemex’s exchange interface, including a brand-new user interface to help more people participate in blockchain’s disruption of the financial service industry.

The world’s monetary systems weren’t designed to hinder certain participants and favor others, but they do. Trading is inherently competitive, but it doesn’t have to be unjust. Phemex stands for economic empowerment, endorsing principles of fairness and organic growth, by allowing people to contribute to markets however they want.

Phemex is tearing down the barricades formed to serve privilege and exclusivity, building a hub where the skilled and determined are rewarded, and connections and heritage aren’t valued. Investing in crypto can be extremely risky, but players won’t find adventure competing in a rigged game. Phemex gives people the option of breaking through the noise of centralized infrastructures, giving traders enough elbow room to carve their own paths and break free.