Citadel Securities, Fidelity and Charles Schwab-Backed EDX Exchange Launches

EDX Markets, a new cryptocurrency exchange backed by Citadel Securities, Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab, has quietly entered the market, aiming to attract brokers and investors interested in digital assets.

The exchange, which has yet to announce its official launch, operates in a non-custodial capacity, meaning it does not handle customers’ digital assets directly. Instead, it acts as a marketplace where firms can execute trades. This eliminates the risk of bank-driven style failures seen by the industry in 2022 with FTX, Celsius and others.

The development comes as US exchange Coinbase and worldwide exchange Binance face lawsuits from the US Securities and Exchange Commission. While the action signaled increased scrutiny from regulators, it seems large institutions are seeing this as an opportunity to swoop in for market share. These firms often have closer ties to regulators and are more effective at complying with regulations as a result of their scale, and as such, the current environment appears ripe for disruption.

In fact, a recent filing by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm, with more than $8 trillion under management, for bitcoin ETFs is another sign that these institutions see the current environment as an opportunity for expansion in the sector. see as.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has repeatedly Claimed that’s bitcoin no protection, but one item, effectively placing it outside the purview of SEC regulation. As a result, institutions such as BlackRock may look to bitcoin as the safest cryptocurrency to offer products, although this newly announced EDX exchange will include other cryptocurrencies as well.

Overall, the development indicates that BlackRock isn’t the only major traditional finance institution paying attention to bitcoin — everyone wants a piece of the pie, and regulators have that pie fresh out of the oven.