TP ICAP’s Institutional Crypto Exchange Finally Goes Live for Spot Trading

Fusion Digital Assets, TP ICAP’s crypto spot exchange for institutional investors initially targeted for mid-2021 launch, has finally gone live. The platform has successfully completed its first Bitcoin/US dollar trading pair transaction, the top interdealer broker said on Wednesday, noting that the trade was settled by one of its partners, Fidelity Digital Assets.

TP ICAP Floats New Platform

The launch of the enterprise-grade trading venue comes six months after TP ICAP secured a UK license to operate the exchange. However, the financial market infrastructure and data solutions provider has been offering crypto derivatives services since 2019.

The new platform combines TP ICAP’s proprietary over-the-counter electronic platform, Fusion, with the institutional-grade custodial expertise of Fidelity Digital Assets. In addition to depending on TP ICAP’s order matching and trade execution technology, the exchange also taps into the firm's diverse liquidity from its global client base.

“The venue currently supports trading in Bitcoin and Ether against USD,” TP ICAP said. “Going forward, it will expand the assets it supports in line with client demand,’ the firm added, noting that the platform will further expand to support “a multi-custody model".

A Joint Project

Apart from Fidelity Digital Assets, TP ICAP also onboarded several industry stakeholders as partners and clients for the launch of Fusion Digital. They include liquidity provider, Flow Traders; crypto liquidity provider and asset manager, XBTO Global; and crypto asset trading and custody integration services provider, DLT Finance.

Finance Magnates previously reported that TP ICAP onboarded quantitative trading firm Hudson River Trading as a spot crypto market maker for the project. The London-listed company also previously tapped Standard Chartered’s Zodia Custody. However, these firms are not mentioned in the latest announcement.

“Today is a further milestone in our collaboration with TP ICAP and the evolution of the digital assets ecosystem to enable even more participation from institutional investors,” said Manuel Nordeste, Head of European Business Development at Fidelity Digital Assets Europe. “Our collective goal is to enable investors to navigate this nascent asset class, execute trades, and custody their assets with confidence.”

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ConsenSys Launches First Institutional Staking Marketplace

<p>ConsenSys, an Ethereum and decentralized protocols software company, has launched what it called the first marketplace for institutional cryptocurrency <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/s/staking/" class="terms__main-term" id="ebfdd4d9-00b3-41ff-bff5-878cd2eb105f">staking</a>. The marketplace was launched under MetaMask Institutional, the multi-custodial institutional web3 wallet developed by <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/tag/consensys/" target="_blank" rel="follow">ConsenSys</a>. </p><p>ConsenSys disclosed in a blog update published on Wednesday noted that the marketplace was launched in partnership with non-custodian staking and blockchain node infrastructure provider, Allnodes, blockchain infrastructure firm, Blockdaemon, and enterprise-grade staking platform, Kiln. The institutional staking marketplace is supported by ConsenSys Staking, the software company’s technology for staking. </p><p>In addition, ConsenSys noted that the marketplace has been integrated with 11 custody and self-custody platforms across the world in order to provide institutional investors with “seamless and unrivalled access to staking providers.”</p><p>ConsenSys Seeks to Break Barriers to Institutional Staking</p><p>Speaking on its motive for introducing MetaMask Institutional, ConsenSys explained that <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/institutions-stick-to-crypto-despite-market-upheaval-in-2022/" target="_blank" rel="follow">institutional investors</a> have been discouraged from participating in stalking as a result of varying fees, terms and conditions, rebates and reporting standards offered by vendors. On top of that, various staking service providers offer different benefits to institutions in areas such as infrastructure and certification, among others. However, the company says its marketplace was designed to address these issues.</p><p>“MetaMask Institutional’s staking marketplace will reduce this complexity by streamlining access to top-tier staking providers; offering standardized terms and conditions, institutional-grade reporting; and a simplified staking experience — to facilitate broader institutional web3 participation,” ConsenSys explained. </p><p>Furthermore, ConsenSys noted its plans to launch features, such as institutional controls, portfolio management and digital asset monitoring on its MetaMask Web3 Portfolio dashboard on March 27th.</p><p>ConsenSys Eyes Upcoming Shanghai Upgrade</p><p>According to ConsenSys, <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/news/ethereum-merge-goes-live-eth-touches-1600/" target="_blank" rel="follow">the Ethereum Merge</a> which happened in September last year shot up the total amount of staked Ether (ETH) on the <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/e/ethereum/" class="terms__secondary-term" id="230aa7bc-daf7-4523-af41-90671a2e79de">Ethereum</a> Blockchain by four million. Currently, the number stands at 17.7 million, the software company noted. The Merge moved the Ethereum blockchain from a Proof-of-Work to a Proof-of-Stake system.</p><p>ConsenSys believes that <a href="https://www.ledger.com/blog/ethereums-shanghai-upgrade-is-coming-what-you-need-to-know" target="_blank" rel="follow">the Shanghai upgrade</a> to the decentralized, open-source blockchain expected sometime this month or next month can boost institutional participation in Ethereum staking. Industry stakeholders expected the upgrade or hard fork to enable ETH holders to un-stake their assets for the first time. This upgrade “will offer greater flexibility and control over assets,” ConsenSys noted.</p> This article was written by Solomon Oladipupo at www.financemagnates.com.

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LMAX Group Sees Record Growth in Gross Revenue and Profit in 2021

<p class="MsoNormal">LMAX Group, the operator of multiple institutional execution venues for forex and cryptocurrency trading, saw record performance during its fiscal year that ended December 31, 2021.</p><p class="MsoNormal">The UK-headquartered company's gross profit jumped 68% to US$106 million in 2021, <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/tag/lmax-exchange-group/" target="_blank">LMAX Group</a> announced on Tuesday. </p><p class="MsoNormal">The Group’s gross revenue also climbed 80% higher during the period compared to 2020, the company said. </p><p class="MsoNormal">The total trading volume of the group also shot up 20% year-over-year to US$5.4 trillion in 2020.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Furthermore, LMAX Group reported a 103% growth in its statutory earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBIDTA), and an EBITDA margin increase of 58%. </p><p class="MsoNormal">The statutory EBIDTA touched US$62 million, LMAX Group said.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Growth Factors</p><p class="MsoNormal">The company explained that the growth in its institutional market share across both the forex and cryptocurrency markets “despite volatility and downward pressure on volumes” contributed to the revenue jump.</p><p class="MsoNormal">David Mercer, the Chief Executive Officer of LMAX Group, attributed the “strong performance” to “years of investment in our market-leading proprietary technology”. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Mercer added that LMAX Group’s efforts to diversify its product offering and geographic reach contributed to the record financial results.</p><p class="MsoNormal">“2021 was a milestone year for LMAX Group as we successfully navigated through challenging global macroeconomic conditions to achieve record volumes, revenues, and EBITDA,” he added.</p><p class="MsoNormal">The LMAX Group includes the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)-regulated LMAX Exchange, which is an institutional forex exchange; and the LMAX Global, which is the brokerage arm regulated by the FCA and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission. </p><p class="MsoNormal">It also includes LMAX Digital, an institutional spot cryptocurrency exchange regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission.</p><p class="MsoNormal text-align-justify">Focus on LMAX Digital</p><p class="MsoNormal">According to LMAX Group, LMAX Digital volumes reached over $500 billion during its fiscal year 2021.</p><p class="MsoNormal">“Over the course of the year, LMAX Digital maintained its position as the primary price discovery venue in the market and continued to drive institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies, delivering over $500 billion in volumes, up 340% year-on-year,” LMAX Group explained.</p><p class="MsoNormal">A more recent signal of LMAX Digital's growth is its institutional spot cryptocurrency <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/as-crypto-markets-rebound-lmax-hits-highest-volume-yet-in-2022/">peak volumes</a> reported in May following the crypto market rebound at the time.</p><p class="MsoNormal">The volumes reached $2.10 billion and $3.25 billion on two consecutive days during the month. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Meanwhile, LMAX Group in March <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/news/lmax-and-six-partner-to-launch-crypto-futures/">partnered with</a> the SIX Swiss Exchange, a major Swiss stock exchange, to launch cash-settled and centrally cleared crypto-asset futures.</p> This article was written by Solomon Oladipupo at www.financemagnates.com.

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