Meet Denis Dariotis, the 22-year-old founder and CEO of GoQuant, a cryptocurrency-focused trading software firm that has taken the financial world by storm. Dariotis’ journey into the world of trading began at a remarkably young age, with his earliest memories of the trading world dating back to his childhood in Montreal, where he would watch CNBC with his parents and become mesmerized by the scrolling tickers on the screen.
As he grew older, Dariotis’ interest in trading only deepened, and by the time he was in the third grade, he was already managing his own portfolio, often taking breaks from class to check on the markets. This early start in trading eventually led him to develop an interest in computer programming, which he began exploring at the age of 11. He started with basic web development languages before moving on to more advanced languages like Python and C++. By the time he was 13, Dariotis had realized that he was spending too much time manually scanning datasets and decided to use his programming skills to automate the process, allowing him to focus more on researching trading strategies.
Dariotis’ big break came when he was just 15 years old, and he began licensing his trading strategies to a major Canadian bank, which became his first major client. He also started consulting for other investment managers and later caught the attention of a large hedge fund at a trading and data science conference in New York. However, his age became a significant obstacle, with the hedge fund being taken aback by his youthful appearance.
Despite the challenges he faced, Dariotis persevered and eventually turned his attention to the cryptocurrency market, recognizing the lack of institutional-grade infrastructure in the space. He applied his data market toolset to crypto and identified latency delays in the way trading venues updated their order books. This realization led him to build the entire infrastructure stack from scratch. Fast forward to January 2025, GoQuant had secured a $3 million pre-seed round and a $4 million seed round led by crypto trading firm GSR, with the company now handling over $1 billion in trading volume daily and employing around 80 staff across various locations.
When asked about his vision for GoQuant, Dariotis explained, “We aim to be at the center of how value moves, providing a core platform that connects everything and performs excellently.” He also emphasized the importance of being flexible and adaptable, stating, “You have to be willing to pivot and avoid creating product silos, even if they could be $100 million businesses on their own, when they have the potential to be worth multiples more by building a whole connected ecosystem.”
The recent launch of GoDark, an institutional-grade dark pool, and GoCredit, a lending platform with around half a billion dollars of crypto loans in the pipeline, is a testament to Dariotis’ innovative approach and commitment to pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the world of cryptocurrency trading. As the crypto market continues to evolve and mature, it will be interesting to see how GoQuant and its founder, Denis Dariotis, navigate the ever-changing landscape and shape the future of cryptocurrency trading.
