Fidelity Investments, Citadel Securities, Charles Schwab (SCHW) and Citadel Securities are some of the financial heavyweights that announced Tuesday’s launch of a new cryptocurrency trading platform.
The report states that the trio worked together to launch the cryptocurrency exchange EDX Markets, (EDXM).
This exchange promises to make cryptocurrency trading safer, more efficient, and faster than ever before. By netting and settlement trades using its blockchain network, the exchange hopes to eliminate expensive bilateral settlements.
The EDXM’s trading platform will rely on the technology built by The Member Exchange (MEMX), a U.S. stock market owned by a group of financial firms, including some of EDX’s creators. This will allow for the EDXM plans to expand its operations in order to provide institutional and retail investors with services in many markets.
Ventures such as Paradigm and Citadel Securities will also back the exchange.
Jamil Nazarali is the CEO of EDXM, and was previously the global head of business development for Citadel Securities.
EDX Markets’ board stated that Crypto is a $1 trillion global asset type with more than 300 million participants and a pent-up demand of millions more. This demand can only be met by a platform that is able to meet both institutional investors and retail traders, and adheres to strict security and compliance standards.
Cryptocurrency is a hot topic
Despite crypto’s fall this year, institutional interest has not declined. Institutions bring in more money than retail and are able to invest more. BlackRock, Charles Schwab and Abrdn are just a few of the established asset managers that have been looking into the market to find a foothold.
Abrdn (the U.K.’s investment group) bought a stake last month in Archax digital assets exchange. BlackRock has opened a private trust to give institutional clients in America direct Bitcoin exposure. Schwab also launched a cryptolinked exchange-traded funds (ETF).
South Korean securities firms, including Mirae Asset Securities, and Samsung Securities, reportedly focused last month on the crypto market, with plans for setting up digital asset exchanges within the first half 2023.
SEBA Bank introduced Ethereum staking services in April. This is an institution-grade service that allows clients to earn staking rewards for Ethereum.
Asset managers are open to many futures in finance. They are increasingly embracing cryptocurrency as a legitimate way of hedging sophisticated investors’ portfolios, like other alternative assets such as Gold.
Some brands have gone beyond the Bitcoin-first approach and entered non-fungible tokens (NFTs), ETFs and other areas of the metaverse.
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