Customers of Hidden Road, which provides prime brokerage and other trading services, are gaining access to the crypto trading platform run by Crossover Markets though a new collaboration, according to a statement.
Crossover operates an execution-only platform, meaning customers need a credit sponsor to trade. Unlike centralized exchanges, customers cannot open an account and send money as there’s no settlement option or exchange option, only execution. The aim of the collaboration is to avoid conflicts of interest by decoupling trade execution from custody and brokerage, allowing institutions the ability to freely choose their own credit counterparties.
Brandon Mulvihill, co-founder and chief executive officer of Crossover said in an interview with CoinDesk that since the fall of crypto exchange FTX and the current hostility from U.S. regulators toward CEXs, TradFi institutions have been scared away and don’t want to face centralized exchanges bilaterally anymore.
“Institutions want to trade crypto the way they would with any other traditional asset class,” Mulvihill said. Hidden Road customers will have access to CROSSx, Crossover’s execution only communication network (ECN), to execute cryptocurrency spot transactions, according to the press release. Hidden Road is the first firm to onboard with CROSSx, which Crossover launched in March.
Mulvihill said that there are currently 50 customers onboarding, with 60% of these from TradFi companies and the rest crypto native. “We believe this significant removal of operational friction from the ecosystem will materially increase trading volumes and decrease the costs of trading,” Mulvihill said.