Sinagpore’s AsiaNext has launched its cryptocurrency derivatives trading offering. The company is an institutional digital asset trading venue co-founded by Switzerland’s SIX and SBI Digital Asset Holdings.
At launch, trading members include Wintermute and SBI-owned liquidity provider B2C2.
AsiaNext says it offers reduced counterparty and settlement risk, as well as capital efficiencies through intraday margining and settlement. It also supports high frequency trading and is available 24/7 for crypto derivatives trading.
“As more traditional financial institutions explore alternative exposure to digital assets, partnering with AsiaNext enables us to elevate our derivatives offering, positioning Wintermute in the foreground of the expanding digital asset ecosystem,” said Evgeny Gaevoy, Founder & CEO of Wintermute.
From a timing perspective, the expected approval of the first U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs could drive demand for hedging.
“By putting regulation and rigorous governance at the forefront, we’re providing institutional investors with a safe venue for exposure to digital assets in this region,” said Chong Kok Kee, CEO of AsiaNext.
Meanwhile, AsiaNext received a Monetary Authority of Singapore license as a Recognised Market Operator (RMO) in September. However, this license applies to tokenized securities, whereas crypto derivatives are not regulated in Singapore. Hence, crypto derivatives trading is operated out of a separate subsidiary.
On the digital securities front, the two joint venture partners each operate secondary markets. Switzerland’s SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) was the world’s first regulated digital securities market, launched in late 2021. SBI went live with the Osaka Digital Exchange (ODX) two weeks ago on Christmas Day.
