Interdealer broker TP ICAP has launched its first roster of cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs) with fresh digital asset exposures to its European clients.
TP ICAP’s first crypto trades already completed on behalf of Goldman Sachs, while DRW, Flow Traders and Jane Street provided liquidity for the ETPs trades.
The firm said it traded outright the ETC Group Physical Bitcoin, which is traded on Xetra, against the CME Bitcoin Future. Institutional investors in Europe can now invest in the new offerings via their bank or broker just as they would with other listed financial assets.
The expansion of TP ICAP’s crypto offering is intended to appeal to a wider range of investors and comes at a time when interest in cryptocurrencies is growing.
“We’re delighted to start providing liquidity for clients in these European crypto asset equity instruments alongside Goldman Sachs and some of the most respected market makers in the space. We look forward to adding further equity instruments and to start providing our clients with access to crypto asset ETFs out of the US in the near future,” said Simon Forster, co-head of TP ICAP Digital Assets.
Bernardus Roelofs. Head of ETF and Institutional Sales & Trading at DRW, said: ”We are excited to provide liquidity to TP ICAP to meet the growing institutional demand for crypto exchange traded products (ETPs) from sophisticated market participants such as Goldman Sachs. As a leading global market maker in crypto ETPs, spot and derivatives, we look forward to expanding the partnership and serving as a source of trusted, deep liquidity as institutional demand for the products offered on the platform continues to increase.”
Max Minton, APAC Head of Digital Assets at Goldman Sachs, added: “We are excited to work with firms like TP ICAP as we continue to evolve our cash-settled crypto currency capabilities at Goldman Sachs. Institutional demand continues to grow significantly in this area and this partnership will help us expand our capabilities to serve our clients.”
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Institutional demand continues to grow significantly
TP ICAP’s new Digital Assets Platform plans to offer an electronic wholesale marketplace for spot crypto trading including Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as connection to a network of digital asset custodians for post-trade infrastructure. The platform will also provide straight through processing (STP) and payment netting services for executed trades.
Onboarding leading market makers such as Jane Street and Virtu Financial to provide liquidity will enable the platform users to benefit from a tight pricing and better trading conditions.
The launch of TP ICAP’s OTC platform remains subject to approval from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority. However, the UK interdealer broker expects to secure the FCA’s nod in the first quarter of 2022, with several clients globally already in the process of onboarding.
TP ICAP has partnered with crypto providers, including Fidelity Digital Assets and Zodia Custody, to develop a flexible trading model. Specifically, clients can access liquidity through TP ICAP’s crypto terminal whilst their assets remain under custody at their choice of digital asset custodian.
