sFOX is an institutional crypto platform unifying multi-venue trading, regulated custody, liquidity and prime services.

SFOX was founded by George Melika, Akbar Thobhani in 2014.

Who are SFOX's investors?

SFOX's investors include Blockchain Capital, Digital Currency Group, Oyster Ventures, Transmedia Capital, Y Combinator.

Where is SFOX headquartered?

SFOX is headquartered in Los Angeles, US.

SFOX

YC S14

Los Angeles, US · Founded 2014 · 60 employees · 5 known investors

Find your way into SFOX

839 people in our graph share verified history with the SFOX team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.

Olaunlockedknows Akbar Thobhani · together at MIT Sloan School of Management (overlapped)

knows the team · via Bank of America

×5knows the team · via Airbnb

×3knows the team · via Y Combinator

knows the team · via Virtu Financial

knows the team · via NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

sFOX is an institutional digital asset infrastructure platform providing enterprise-level access to crypto markets through a unified interface with deep liquidity, trading algorithms, and custody solutions. The platform serves institutional investors, trading firms, fintech companies, and businesses managing digital asset operations.

Also known as San Francisco Open Exchange · sFOX · SFOX

Crypto & Web3 Fintech Crypto / Web3United States of AmericaAmerica / CanadaFully Remote

Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (S14)

SFOX was founded in 2014 by George Melika and Akbar Thobhani.

George Melika in 𝕏Co-Founder2014–2022He has over 20 years of experience in software development, with a background building algorithmic trading and cryptocurrency platforms.

Akbar Thobhani in 𝕏Co-FounderBefore co-founding SFOX in 2014, he led growth, business development, and payments at Airbnb and later advised the company, and served on the board of Balanced Payments. He previously worked at BOKU, Lehman Brothers, Stamps.com, and Virtu Financial, where he began his career as a software engineer on trading algorithm analytics.

Javier MartinezinCEO

Bilal ChinoyinChief Technology Officer

David ArnoldinChief Financial Officer

Aleksandr ZhukinChief Information Security Officer

Diana PiresinChief Business Officer

James KiernaninChief Compliance Officer

Investors · 5

Blockchain CapitalSan Francisco · $25K – $200K

Digital Currency GroupNew York

Oyster VenturesSan Francisco · $25K – $200K

Transmedia CapitalSan Francisco · $5M

Y CombinatorSan Francisco · $500K

The YC application· Summer 2014 batch

▶ Demo Day video — watch on YC ↗

Company profile

researched Aug 2026

sFOX operates an institutional digital asset platform that combines trading and execution, custody and settlement, liquidity access, and connectivity infrastructure in a single system. The company describes four core capabilities: sFOX Connect, an integrated API for onboarding, trading, custody and compliance functions used to launch crypto trading, custody and global payment platforms; Trading & Execution, offering multi-venue liquidity, smart order routing and best execution; Custody & Settlement through sFOX SAFE; and Prime Services covering institutional prime brokerage with staking, settlement and support.

Custody is provided through SAFE Trust Co., a Wyoming-chartered trust company. Assets held in SAFE remain in regulated storage while clients execute trades, stake and use prime services, an arrangement the company frames as removing the need to move assets onto exchanges and thereby limiting exchange counterparty risk. The company states that custodied assets are bankruptcy-protected and covered by $200 million of insurance.

Business model

sFOX sells enterprise digital asset infrastructure to institutions, delivering trading, custody, liquidity, payments and compliance capability through a single integration rather than requiring clients to assemble multiple vendors. Onboarding routes on its site include booking a demo, opening an account, and speaking with a named relationship manager, indicating a direct, account-managed institutional relationship model.

▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, history

Market position

Presents itself as an institutional crypto engine and prime broker serving institutions that require resilience, performance and risk-managed execution, competing with vendors that institutions would otherwise stitch together for trading, custody, liquidity and compliance.

sFOX positions itself on trading directly from regulated SAFE Trust custody so assets are not exposed to exchange counterparty risk; aggregated liquidity across 40+ providers with smart order routing; bank-grade regulated custody under a Wyoming trust charter with $200M coverage and a stated record of zero security incidents since 2014; global redundancy targeting 99.99% uptime; and consolidation of trading, custody, liquidity and compliance into one platform.

Technology

The platform aggregates 40+ liquidity providers with smart order routing intended to source best execution and reduce slippage, which the company says yields order book depth roughly ten times that of any single venue. sFOX Connect exposes onboarding, trading, custody and compliance through one integrated API. Global redundancy and failover systems support a stated 99.99% operational uptime, and custody is operated via a regulated trust structure that permits trading, staking and prime services directly from storage.

Go-to-market

Direct enterprise sales supported by demo requests, account opening and expert consultation on the company's site, plus an embedded-infrastructure route in which partners such as fintechs and banks integrate sFOX Connect behind their own products. Service delivery includes 24/7 institutional support with a named relationship manager.

Institutional mandates across four stated segments: fintechs and neobanks seeking plug-and-play crypto infrastructure behind their own user experience; banks and credit unions using the company's Wyoming trust charter to offer digital asset services to depositors; crypto businesses needing liquidity redundancy and failover; and asset managers wanting to trade directly from custody.

History

The company states it has operated since 2014 and has developed infrastructure designs addressing structural risks in institutional digital assets, including custody-integrated execution.

Compiled by commissioned research from 1 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.

Key figures

latest reported

Custody insurance coverageJan 2025$200M

HeadcountAug 202691

Liquidity providers aggregatedJan 202540 providers

Operational uptimeJan 2025100%

Security incidents since 2014Jan 20250 incidents

Company-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.

Competitors · 10

by search overlap

Kraken130 shared keywordsKraken 360 Investments provides capital and launch infrastructure to blockchain protocols in pre-token and early post-token phases, offering custody, staking, treasury, and liquidity services alongside fundraising support.

Coinbase104 shared keywordsCoinbase is a cryptocurrency exchange platform that offers trading, custody, and financial services for cryptocurrencies, stocks, derivatives, and prediction markets to consumers, institutions, and developers. The company operates a full-stack infrastructure including secure custody, liquidity services, stablecoin infrastructure, and global settlement rails.

Crypto78 shared keywordsCrypto.com operates a cryptocurrency exchange and digital asset platform serving 150 million users across 90 countries, with a mission to accelerate global adoption of cryptocurrency.

TradingView64 shared keywordsTradingView is a charting platform and social network used by over 100 million traders and investors worldwide to analyze and trade across global financial markets. The platform provides tools for technical analysis, market data, and community collaboration for retail and institutional traders.

Industries62 shared keywordsJ.P. Morgan is a global financial services firm serving corporations and individuals in more than 100 countries, offering investment research, tools, data, analytics, and advisory services. It supports institutional investors, asset and fund managers, hedge funds, broker dealers, and equity issuers with liquidity, fixed income strategies, and equity compensation solutions.

Interactive Strength Acquires Ergatta59 shared keywordsFidelity offers an online brokerage platform for retail investors to trade US stocks, ETFs, options, mutual funds, bonds, CDs, and crypto ETPs, with $0 commission on online US stock and ETF trades. It provides trading across web, desktop, and mobile alongside research tools, professional coaching, and advisory services.

Modern Treasury56 shared keywordsModern Treasury provides a payments infrastructure platform that enables businesses to move and track money across fiat and stablecoin rails through a single API. The company serves enterprises and financial service providers looking to streamline payment operations across multiple currencies, regions, and payment systems.

Wise53 shared keywordsWise is a financial platform offering international money transfers, multi-currency accounts, and debit cards with low fees and competitive exchange rates, serving millions of users globally.

Qualia52 shared keywordsQualia provides cloud-based title, escrow, and eClosing software with an online order fulfillment platform and vendor integrations for managing real estate closings. It serves title, escrow, mortgage, and real estate professionals involved in the home closing process.

CoinGecko50 shared keywordsCoinGecko is the world's largest independent cryptocurrency data aggregator, providing comprehensive market data including price, volume, and market capitalization across thousands of cryptoassets. It serves millions of users globally with tools, research, and APIs for cryptocurrency market analysis and insights.

Companies competing with SFOX for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.

▸Research sources · 1

primary sources listed

SFOXsfox.com · web

1 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.

Frequently asked questions

What does SFOX do?: sFOX is an institutional crypto platform unifying multi-venue trading, regulated custody, liquidity and prime services.
Who founded SFOX?: SFOX was founded by George Melika, Akbar Thobhani in 2014.
Who are SFOX's investors?: SFOX's investors include Blockchain Capital, Digital Currency Group, Oyster Ventures, Transmedia Capital, Y Combinator.
Where is SFOX headquartered?: SFOX is headquartered in Los Angeles, US.