Felix Xu co-founded ARPA Network in 2018 and has served as its CEO ever since, building a decentralized computation network backed by Binance Labs and Arrington Capital, according to CryptoSlate. The ARPA token trades near $0.0082, with a market capitalization around $12.5 million and a CoinMarketCap ranking of #887.
Before turning to blockchain, Xu spent years as a venture investor at Fosun Group, one of China’s largest conglomerates. He also co-founded the DeFi platform Bella Protocol, holds a partner role at the crypto hedge fund ZX Squared, and has an NFT collection that has drawn coverage from the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, according to Cointelegraph.
Who Is Felix Xu?
Felix Xu studied finance and information systems at New York University’s Stern School of Business, a background that shaped his early career in traditional finance before he pivoted into blockchain infrastructure, according to Cointelegraph. He spent years as a venture investor at Fosun Group, one of China’s largest conglomerates, helping steer early-stage blockchain investments.
According to a 2021 company statement distributed via Yahoo Finance, Xu traces his interest in blockchain to 2017, while still at Fosun, when he grew drawn to the mathematics behind decentralized systems. The following year he co-founded ARPA Chain, moving from evaluating blockchain projects to building one himself.
That original venture centered on multi-party computation, or MPC, a cryptographic method letting multiple parties jointly calculate a result without revealing their inputs. The company later rebranded to ARPA Network, and its Threshold BLS Network went live in mid-2023, according to CoinMarketCap.
Felix Xu’s Career and Contributions
Since founding ARPA in 2018, Xu has expanded the project well past its original privacy-computation focus. The Threshold BLS Network launched in mid-2023 now underpins Randcast, ARPA’s verifiable random number generator used for gaming, lotteries, and validator task distribution, according to CoinMarketCap. By May 2024, Randcast served more than 15 dapp customers and ran live on six chains, including Ethereum, Base, and Optimism, Decrypt reported.
That same month, ARPA closed a $6 million funding round led by Nomura’s Laser Digital and DeFiance Capital, adding to an investor base that already included Binance Labs, Arrington Capital, and DWF Labs. Xu said the capital would fund new launches, including the on-chain game DEAR and Randcast’s integration as an EigenLayer AVS, Decrypt reported.
Xu’s ventures extend beyond ARPA, placing him among the founders featured on our crypto personalities page. He co-founded the DeFi platform Bella Protocol in 2020 and later became a partner at ZX Squared, a crypto hedge fund, according to CryptoSlate. ARPA’s token has since fallen well off its November 2021 all-time high of $0.2752, according to CoinMarketCap.
Felix Xu’s Views on Verifiable Randomness and AI
Xu believes trustworthy AI needs the same thing his own product provides: randomness that nobody can secretly control. In a July 2025 guest op-ed for CryptoSlate, he argued that AI systems making financial decisions need randomness that anyone can check was not rigged, not just randomness that looks fair on the surface. As Xu put it: “Without verifiable randomness, we’re building our future on digital quicksand.”
He has also weighed in on AI policy. In an earlier CryptoSlate op-ed, he argued that as U.S. AI rules loosen, this kind of built-in verification matters more, not less. Xu sees it as a backup layer of trust that works alongside regulation, rather than a replacement for it.
Felix Xu in the News
Xu’s most recent notable coverage came when an outside financial publication featured his personal views on the rise of altcoin ETFs, including one tied to SUI, according to an October 2025 recap on ARPA’s blog. The recap frames his remarks as a bridge between traditional finance and Web3. Neither this nor his CryptoSlate op-eds involved any dispute or controversy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Need a refresher on Felix Xu? Here are the questions readers most often ask about him.
What is ZX Squared, and what is Felix Xu’s role there?
ZX Squared is a crypto hedge fund where Felix Xu holds a partner role, according to CryptoSlate. It sits alongside ARPA Network and Bella Protocol as one of the ventures Xu has built or joined since leaving traditional finance for blockchain in 2018.
What is ARPA Network, and what did Felix Xu found?
ARPA Network is a decentralized secure computation network Xu co-founded in 2018 as ARPA Chain, focused on multi-party computation. It later launched the Threshold BLS Network, which now powers Randcast, a verifiable random number generator used in gaming.
Why did Felix Xu leave traditional finance for blockchain?
Xu has said he grew drawn to blockchain’s mathematics while working as a venture investor at Fosun Group in 2017. The following year he co-founded ARPA Chain, moving from evaluating blockchain projects to building one himself.
Is Felix Xu still leading ARPA Network in 2026?
Yes. Xu remains ARPA Network’s CEO and continues publishing commentary on verifiable randomness and AI, including his CryptoSlate op-ed from July 2025.
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