From a school science camp to a $1.5 billion merger. This is the story of Alex Harper and Angus Goldman, the co-founders of Australian digital assets exchange Swyftx.
Key Takeaways
- Alex Harper and Angus Goldman co-founded crypto exchange Swyftx in 2018 after meeting at a school camp
- By 2021, trade volumes on Swyftx reached up to $3 billion a month
- The company is merging with trading platform Superhero in 2023, which they say will create a $1.5 billion business.
If you asked 27-year-old Alex Harper, co-founder of digital assets exchange Swyftx, where he sees himself in five years, he’d tell you, “On a rocket ship right next to Elon Musk, on the way to Mars”. But because he’s sensible, he’d wait until Musk makes the return flight available.
His co-founder and former roommate, 26-year-old Angus Goldman, has a slightly more realistic answer. “Trying to solve the problems we’ve been able to solve in the Australian and New Zealand markets, elsewhere,” he says. “We think we’ve got a lot to contribute to the wider global market.”
Swyftx is an Australian cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to buy Bitcoin, Ethereum and more than 300 other crypto assets. It was founded back in 2018, nearly seven years after Harper and Goldman met at the National Computer Science School, at the University of Sydney.
“If it was easy, everyone would have done it.”
– Alex Harper, co-founder Swyftx
“The relationship just kicked off immediately, and we learned we were very complementary
of each other. Alex has been very entrepreneurial since he could squeeze juice, and I’ve been in tech since I was in primary school,” Goldman says.
Squeezing juice is a reference to Harper’s first foray into business, selling juice at the local markets at just 10 years old. Talk about being an overachiever.
When Harper approached Goldman for some crypto advice a few years later, he realised the existing service providers were missing the mark – and they could certainly do better.
So, Swyftx was born of Goldman’s brain and Harper’s spirit, and a joint interest in cryptocurrency. As Goldman enjoyed reminding me, he was keen on Dogecoin before Musk was, and started trading before Shiba Inu was “even a thing”.
“We quit our jobs and spent 12 months living together, building Swyftx. We spent every day
in the spare bedroom an arm’s length away from each other, punching out code,” Harper says.
The journey was not without its challenges. “I spent nights on the phone to banks in various countries, trying to break language barriers and find someone to bank us,” Harper says. “But if it was easy, everyone would have done it.”
By 2021, trade volumes had reached up to $3 billion a month. But the recent tech downturn has been tough on Swyftx. The company was forced to axe 21% of its staff, totalling 74 staff members.
In a letter to staff, Harper and Goldman said: “We started growing our team in a very different
world and it’s now prudent to make sure our cost base is compatible with this extended period of economic uncertainty.”
The layoffs come as the company prepares to merge with online investing platform Superhero. That will take place in 2023, in what they say will create a $1.5 billion company.
“It’s a big and complex merger, with lots of moving parts,” Harper says. “I’m very excited about the offering we can bring to our customers.”
While they might be happy to fly to Mars one day, Goldman and Harper have their feet firmly planted in Swyftx’s offices, on Earth. Would they exit and cash in? “Absolutely no freaking way in the world.”
The crypto world
- There are more than 16,000 cryptocurrencies
- Global cryptocurrency market worth around US$1,800 billion in 2021, according to IMARC; forecast to reach US$32,400 billion by 2027
- Capital gains tax applies to crypto trading profits in many territories, including Australia