ICAP launches Bitcoin Exchange with Fidelity, Standard Chartered

The large global interdealer TP ICAP is launching a crypto trading platform with Fidelity Investments and the British banking giant Standard Chartered.

The upcoming cryptocurrency exchange from TP ICAP is set to start in the second half of 2021 and initially only offer trading in Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s largest cryptocurrency, Reuters reported today. Other digital assets like Ether (ETH) will be added at a later date.

Unlike most typical crypto exchanges, TP ICAP’s crypto trading platform will provide post-trade infrastructure with a network of custodians for digital assets, as well as making and segregating payments to reduce credit risk. The platform will leverage Standard Chartered’s digital asset custody unit called Zodia, an institutional-grade crypto-custody solution set to launch in December 2020. The market maker Flow Traders based in Amsterdam will provide the platform with liquidity.

According to the report, the platform is awaiting approval from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority. Neither Standard Chartered nor Fidelity Investments have invested in the platform, ICAP told reporters.

Duncan Trenholme, Co-Head of Digital Assets at ICAP, said investor demand for cryptocurrencies as a new asset class has exploded in the past six to eight months. “In most of our customer meetings, they want oversight to be separated from enforcement, which is the opposite of existing models,” he notes.

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TP ICAP has actively ventured into the crypto space in recent years, introducing a number of crypto-related services. In June 2019, ICAP entered the crypto derivatives market, enabling its clients to buy or sell Bitcoin futures contracts on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The company also plans to add support for processing Bitcoin futures.