Using Nasdaq’s technology, Rulematch is a recently launched cryptocurrency exchange for banks in Switzerland. Seven banks and major securities firms are on board, including Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), one of Spain’s pioneers in digital assets. Using crypto custody technology from bank-friendly Metaco in Switzerland and Nasdaq’s pre-trade risk checks, trade matching, and market surveillance capabilities, Rulematch will provide bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) spot trading against the dollar to a limited group of institutional participants.
Following incidents such as the demise of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX in the previous year, institutional interest in trading cryptocurrencies is being directly met by formalized methods that closely resemble traditional finance, emphasizing separated functionality and strict adherence to market legislation.An anonymous central limit order book with 30 microsecond execution timings and integrated post-trade settlement with multilateral clearance are just two of the features that Rulematch promises to provide businesses the institutional feel they are used to.German Bankhaus Scheich Wertpapierspezialist and other approved market makers ensure upfront liquidity.
“The crypto spot market is really dominated by players which do not really fulfill the very high requirements of a regulated participant,” CEO David Riegelnig said in an interview. “Primarily, the mix of functions that so-called crypto exchanges typically do, which makes them much more of a broker than actual exchange, was what triggered us to start rolling out Rulematch.”
Three Dutch companies, Flow Traders, Consensys Mesh, and FiveT Fintech (previously Avaloq), support Rulematch.DLT Finance in Germany is another user of the technology besides BBVA.Riegelnig stated that the majority of other involved institutions preferred not to be identified at this time.
“We have many more banks in the pipeline. but the onboarding takes quite a while,” Riegelnig said. “There’s a lot of due diligence involved on both sides, and we only select from jurisdictions that are fulfilling the OECD and FATF requirements, so from places like the European Union, U.K. and Singapore.”