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Two Wall Street veterans just dropped their latest move. Gianluca Pizzituti and Vittorio De Angelis, both former derivatives traders at JP Morgan and Dresdner Kleinwort, launched Velotrade Re Limited on March 13 in Hong Kong, focusing entirely on cryptocurrency proprietary trading.
Velotrade Re doesn’t work like your typical prop trading shop that charges challenge fees when traders blow up their accounts. Instead, the firm makes money by copying live market positions from successful traders, using institutional liquidity and algorithmic hedging to manage risk. Pizzituti said the model removes the incentive to fail traders since the company only profits when traders actually make money. The firm offers up to 6x leverage on Bitcoin and Ether, with traders able to request payouts in USDC or USDT stablecoins after completing 14-day trading cycles. Unlike multi-asset prop firms that spread across forex, commodities, and equities, Velotrade Re stays laser-focused on crypto markets with full on-chain transparency and proof-of-reserves reporting.
Both founders bring serious Wall Street credentials.
Pizzituti spent over five years handling equity derivatives at Dresdner Kleinwort’s London office before moving to Singapore to start Colosseum Financials. De Angelis worked derivatives trading roles at both JP Morgan and Dresdner, eventually climbing to Managing Director and Co-Head of Derivatives Trading at Bank of America in London. The two probably figured crypto’s wild volatility made perfect sense for their derivatives background – and they’re not wrong about the opportunity.
The crypto prop trading space has been heating up lately with new players like HyroTrader and PipFarm jumping in. Crypto Fund Trader recently bragged about distributing over $18 million to traders, which shows there’s real money flowing in the sector. But competition’s getting fierce as more traditional finance guys realize crypto trading can be pretty lucrative if you know what you’re doing. This follows earlier reporting on Bank of England Backs Down on.
Hong Kong makes sense as a base. The city’s been pushing hard to become Asia’s digital finance hub, with regulators slowly warming up to crypto businesses that can prove they’re legitimate. De Angelis mentioned the regulatory environment there gives them room to innovate while still operating within clear guidelines. Plus, Hong Kong’s timezone works well for trading both Asian and European crypto markets.
Not really clear yet how big Velotrade Re plans to scale.
The firm’s algorithmic hedging approach means they’re not just gambling on crypto price movements – they’re using sophisticated risk management that probably draws from both founders’ derivatives experience. Pizzituti explained they can mirror successful trading strategies while managing downside risk through institutional-grade liquidity providers. The 6x leverage limit keeps things from getting too crazy, which probably helps with regulatory compliance and risk management. And the stablecoin payout option makes sense since most crypto traders want to keep their profits in digital assets rather than converting back to fiat currencies right away. See also: White House Crypto Advisor Witt Sees.
March 13 timing wasn’t random – crypto markets have been showing more institutional interest lately, with Bitcoin and Ether gaining acceptance as legitimate asset classes. The founders picked the two most liquid cryptocurrencies for good reason, since they offer the deepest markets and most reliable price discovery. Velotrade Re’s proof-of-reserves model means traders can verify the firm actually holds the assets they claim, which builds trust in a sector that’s seen plenty of fraud and mismanagement. The 14-day payout cycle gives traders regular access to profits while allowing the firm to manage its own liquidity needs effectively.
Hong Kong’s crypto-friendly regulatory shift has attracted dozens of traditional finance professionals in recent months. The city approved its first batch of retail crypto ETFs in April 2024, while the Securities and Futures Commission expanded licensing for digital asset trading platforms. Major banks like Standard Chartered and HSBC have started offering crypto custody services to institutional clients, creating infrastructure that prop trading firms like Velotrade Re can leverage. The regulatory clarity contrasts sharply with ongoing uncertainty in the US and Europe, where firms face potential enforcement actions and unclear compliance requirements.
The copy-trading model that Velotrade Re uses has gained traction across multiple financial markets beyond crypto. eToro pioneered social trading with over 30 million users copying successful investors, while platforms like ZuluTrade and PAMM accounts at forex brokers have processed billions in copied trades. In crypto specifically, Bybit and Bitget have launched copy trading features that generated over $2 billion in trading volume during 2024. However, most existing platforms focus on retail investors with smaller position sizes, leaving room for institutional-grade services targeting professional traders with deeper pockets and more sophisticated risk management needs.
