In an effort to better serve institutional clients, EDX Markets, the cryptocurrency exchange supported by Citadel Securities, has applied for a national trust bank charter.
According to documents, the application was filed with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Wednesday. The move comes approximately three and a half years after the company’s founding.
If approved, the charter would enable EDX to maintain its primary order-matching platform while providing custody, asset management, and principal trading services. The document describes a framework in which trading activities are kept separate from custody and settlement, which are housed under a regulated trust entity.
Traditional financial institutions are the target clients for EDX Markets’ entry into digital assets. Citadel Securities, Charles Schwab, and Fidelity Digital assets are among its backers.
Four cryptocurrencies were available when the platform launched in the summer of 2023: bitcoin, ether, LTC, and bitcoin cash (BHC). Since then, it has expanded to include 17 additional tokens.
CEO Tony Acuña-Rohter has told a crypto news website that “EDX Trust is a key step in bringing traditional market structure to digital assets”. He added, “We’re creating the kind of infrastructure banks and institutional investors expect as they scale into the space by separating custody and settlement into a regulated trust.”
This kind of regulatory footing is not unique to EDX. In recent years, a number of cryptocurrency companies have applied for and been granted trust bank charters, using them to provide custody and other services under U.S. supervision. These approvals are now a crucial step for businesses trying to attract institutional funding.
There is now more competition for those clients. Platforms that replicate the security and structure of conventional markets are preferred by major asset managers and trading companies.
In practice, this can mean regulated entities that reduce counterparty risk, segregated custody, and transparent settlement procedures. Obtaining a trust charter could help close that gap for exchanges such as EDX.
Source: X.com
Stay informed with the latest trends in Web3, blockchain innovation, and cybersecurity updates at 3verseTV
You need to login in order to Like
Leave a comment