TP ICAP, world’s biggest interdealer broker, to launch crypto trading platform

TP ICAP, the world’s biggest interdealer broker, is set to launch a crypto trading platform for institutional investors in partnership with Fidelity Digital Assets, Standard Chartered’s Zodia Custody, and Flow Traders. The company said the platform is under development with crypto custody providers while the idea is to provide clients with a separate but interoperable model for execution and settlement.

Simon Forster, co-head of digital assets at TP ICAP, reiterated that the current cryptocurrency market infrastructure does not allow many institutional clients to trade as most venues of execution require pre-funding and also act as custodians.

“This poses challenges from a conflict of interest perspective and results in fragmented liquidity. Our partnership, and resultant new platform, is a natural evolution in market structure that will make digital assets, such as Bitcoin, more accessible for the wholesale market,” Forster said.

This is coming in the wake of megabanks, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup, launching their own internal initiatives to help private wealth management clients access the crypto market.

However, it can also be recalled that earlier in June, Standard Chartered announced its plans to launch a crypto brokerage and exchange platform in the U.K. and Europe, along with Hong Kong-based BC Group.