Fidelity, Schwab and Citadel launch their new crypto exchange platform EDX Markets.
It raises the question of whether this move by the world’s largest asset management companies points to the transformation of the ecosystem. World giants first announced EDX Markets in September 2022.
It is extremely important for institutions to be included in the ecosystem. A short time ago, fund management giant BlackRock applied for a spot ETF, and after BlackRock, news that Fidelity could apply for a Bitcoin ETF came to the fore.
Another claim about Fidelity was that it could buy the digital asset management company Grayscale. The news of EDX, which came with the cooperation of institutions, gave hope to the ecosystem, where concerns were raised with the news of the lawsuits until a few weeks ago.
EDX is not exactly an Exchange for now, it’s just a trading platform.
Therefore, we can also call it a partial exchange without custody. But it is known that they are also planning to open a clearing house in the future.
Transactions can be made with both crypto assets and fiat currencies on the platform, and users’ assets will not be directly processed. Initially, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Ethereum transactions will be made via EDX.
It is important that Citadel, Fidelity and Charles Schwab are involved in the crypto ecosystem. These companies are the largest companies in the world. According to the latest quarterly report, Fidelity has more than 42 million individual investors. The size of the assets under the management of the company is $11.1 trillion.
As of June 1, Citadel’s assets under management are $59 billion. The company is the most profitable portfolio management company of all time.
Not only these, asset management companies such as Virtu, Paradigm and Sequoia are also supporters of EDX.
While the SEC sued Binance and Coinbase just a few weeks ago, these moves from institutions after these lawsuits may replace concerns about the future of the ecosystem with trust.