By
Steve Muchoki
April 17th, 2024
The statement also revealed that the crypto trading platform will create a post-trade infrastructure with a network of digital asset custodians.
Interdealer broker TP ICAP is set to launch a cryptocurrency trading platform with Fidelity Investments alongside Standard Chartered’s digital assets custody unit, the consortium stated on June 29. According to the announcement, the imminent crypto trading platform which is scheduled to be launched in the second half of the year will initially allow investors to trade Bitcoin with will be followed later with the second-largest digital coin ether.
The statement also revealed that the crypto trading platform will create a post-trade infrastructure with a network of digital asset custodians. The platform will also be equipped with separate execution and settlement, which according to crypto experts is a vital factor for the greater involvement of larger risk-averse investors in the crypto market. Crypto execution and custody services are presently usually snowballed up in one venue which often comes with increasing credit risks.
TP ICAP, the world’s biggest interdealer broker over the years has broadened its reach in global capital markets by adding new data and analytics services in its offers to clients as well as rolling out new products. The latest partnership with Fidelity Digital Assets and Zodia Custody which was launched by the venture capital arm of Standard Chartered and Northern Trust in December will now seek to make crypto trading attractive to its clients like that of traditional assets including stocks, foreign exchange, and bond. Flow Traders, a global market maker based in Amsterdam will provide liquidity to the platform.
The partnership is also the latest attempt by Standard Chartered in making a mark in the crypto sector regardless of the problems banks are currently facing with balancing crypto offerings as well as the compliance headaches associated with the cryptocurrency sector and increasing scrutiny by regulators. Standard Chartered’s venture capital unit stated earlier this month that it will create a separate cryptocurrency brokerage and exchange platform in the UK and Europe, with Hong Kong’s BC Technology Group.
Dedicated crypto funds have seen record flows this year but major banks offering access must balance growing interest with the compliance headaches long associated with the cryptocurrency sector and increasing scrutiny by regulators.
Co-head of digital assets at ICAP, Duncan Trenholme, speaking after the announcement stated that investor interest in this new asset class has exploded unprecedentedly 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,” he added.
The crypto platform according to TP ICAP, is awaiting approval from Britain’s financial regulator. However, neither Standard Chartered nor Fidelity Investments has invested in the platform, ICAP added. The interdealer broker launched bitcoin futures and options on CME in 2019 and now looks set to launch other derivative products including total return swaps and non-deliverable forwards.