EDX crypto exchange, backed by Citadel Securities, Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab, quietly begins operations

EDX Markets, previously backed by Citadel Securities, Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab, quietly began operations. WSJ.

According to the publication, an official statement on the platform’s launch is expected on Tuesday, June 20.

EDX is targeted at investors interested in digital assets but wary of regulatory issues like those facing Coinbase or Binance.

According to the company, its approach is based on standard practices of traditional financial markets. EDX does not custody client assets, but provides a trading venue for executing trades.

During 2023 the exchange plans to launch a clearing house, but even after that will continue to rely on banking and custodial services for user funds.

EDX also does not service retail investors directly. Brokerage firms representing their interests will interact with the platform.

The exchange supports four cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. None of these assets has been classified as securities by the SEC in its lawsuits against trading platforms.

Charles Schwab, Citadel Securities and Fidelity Digital Assets in September 2022 announced the launch of EDX. According to the WSJ, in the second round of financing the exchange was backed by Virtu Financial, venture firms Sequoia Capital and Paradigm, the options-trading platform Miami International Holdings, as well as DV Trading and Hudson River Trading.

CEO Jamil Nazarali previously headed the business-development division at market maker Citadel Securities. A representative of the latter confirmed to the publication that the firm is already trading on the platform.

In October 2021, Citadel founder Kenneth Griffin stated that his firm would not back digital assets until the market is properly regulated.

In April 2022 he admitted that his skepticism about cryptocurrencies had been mistaken. Subsequently, the entrepreneur announced plans for Citadel to enter the virtual assets market as a liquidity provider.

As reported in June 2022, the market maker planned to build an ‘ecosystem’ for trading cryptocurrencies with the backing of Virtu Financial, Sequoia Capital and Paradigm.