TP ICAP, the world’s biggest interdealer broker is launching a cryptocurrency trading platform in partnership with Fidelity Investments. The brokerage will also use Standard Chartered’s digital assets custody unit. The platform will launch later this year, and will initially offer Bitcoin trading, with Ethereum to be added in due course.
As published in an article on Reuters this morning, TP ICAP and its partners are looking to take advantage of the wave of interest in cryptocurrencies by helping to make them as accessible for trading as typical traditional stocks, bonds and forex.
According to Reuters:
“The platform will offer post-trade infrastructure with a network of digital asset custodians, the consortium said in a statement, and separate execution and settlement, something widely seen as key to greater involvement of larger risk-averse investors in the emerging crypto market.”
However, all is not plain sailing in the cryptocurrency sector, and although “crypto funds have seen record flows this year”, those banks wishing to get involved must navigate the increasingly stringent regulations that are being applied to the industry.
Standard Chartered is however bullish on the crypto sector and its venture capital unit has said that it will establish its own crypto brokerage and exchange platform in Europe in partnership with the Hong Kong based BC Technology Group.
According to Duncan Trenholme, co-head of digital assets at TP ICAP:
“Investor interest in this new asset class has exploded dramatically in the last six to eight months. In most of our conversations with clients, they want a separation of custodial roles from execution capabilities which is opposite to the models that exist currently.”
TP ICAP already has bitcoin options and futures trading, which it launched on the CME in 2019. To add to this it has plans to add various other derivatives products such as total return swaps and non-deliverable forwards.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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