Why we paused Orbital

# Why we paused Orbital

Not every product makes it. Here's why Orbital—our intraday crypto trading API—is on hold.

## What we built

Orbital was a unified REST/WebSocket API for crypto trading across multiple exchanges. Clean dev UX, 8ms p50 latency, smart order routing.

Built in 3 weeks. Shipped to beta users in week 4.

## What went right

- **Technical execution**: Latency targets hit, zero downtime in 60 days
- **Early traction**: 12 quant devs and 3 small funds signed up
- **Developer love**: "Best crypto API I've used" (verbatim quote)

## What went wrong

### 1. Liquidity fragmentation

Crypto liquidity is scattered across 50+ exchanges. Building a truly unified book requires deep relationships with each venue (permissions, co-location, special API tiers).

We could aggregate prices, but couldn't guarantee fills at displayed prices. That breaks trust for serious traders.

### 2. Buyer timing

The ideal acquirer for Orbital is an exchange or institutional broker. But in Q4 2024, crypto M&A was frozen. Nobody was buying infrastructure plays.

### 3. Revenue model mismatch

We priced per API call. Traders wanted flat monthly fees with unlimited calls. We'd need to rethink pricing, which meant deeper product investment before PMF.

## Why pause, not kill?

- The infrastructure is solid. If market conditions shift (better liquidity consolidation, M&A unfreezes), we can relaunch in 2 weeks.
- We kept the codebase, monitoring setup, and hedge strategies.
- Several components (WebSocket handlers, order book diffing) got reused in other products.

## What we learned

1. **Liquidity is a moat**: In trading, you can't fake it. Distribution alone isn't enough.
2. **Buyer timing matters**: A great product at the wrong time is still the wrong time.
3. **Pause intelligently**: Archive with intent to revive. Don't burn the work.

## Status

Open to partnerships if an exchange or broker wants to integrate Orbital as a white-label API. The code is clean, documented, and ready to ship.

Contact if interested.