Leading cryptocurrency custodian BitGo has launched its institutional-focused prime brokerage services adding to its already impressive lineup of services targeted at professional investors.
The new product will be operated under the BitGo Prime outfit which will be led by Nick Carmi who joined BitGo last year as Head of Financial Services. BitGo says that the BitGo Prime will be seamlessly integrated with its other services including lending, custody, and trading making it one of the most fully immersive platforms catering to the institutional clientele.
As a crypto prime brokerage firm, BitGo Prime will enable its clients more liquidity thanks to access to various brokerage partners. As of launch, the company says it already has contracts in place with four of the top 10 leading crypto trading platforms, a number it plans to increase in the coming months to at least 14.
Prime brokerage works by routing orders to different platforms helping clients get access to the best deals in the market. It saves the clients the time to search the best deals but most importantly increases security. BitGo’s product in particular integrates with BitGo Custody allowing for clients to trade directly from their cold storage accounts. This is beneficial since clients are saved the hustle of moving funds to the trading platforms.
“Institutional investors will be able to trade instantly and directly from their custodial wallets with all the security, compliance, and insurance benefits of BitGo Custody. Clients remain completely anonymous while trading given that BitGo Prime is their sole counterparty. Initially, BitGo Prime’s trading services will be offered to investors with fully funded accounts. However, the ability to trade on non-fully funded accounts will be available through a line of credit offered by BitGo Prime,” BitGo wrote in a press release on Wednesday.
In April, BitGo announced the acquisition of crypto tax reporting and portfolio management software Lumina. At the time, the acquisition was registered under the new entity BitGo Prime which gave a clue to the intentions of the company to launch a prime brokerage entity.
Lumina’s features will come in handy in the latest product launch allowing clients to manage their assets in a complete trading experience from acquiring assets in the best possible deals to storing them. BitGo Prime also promises the privacy of trade orders. Carmi revealed that “nobody [will know] whether it’s you buying or you selling because all they see in the market is BitGo buying.”
In other news, leading cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase also announced the acquisition of crypto prime brokerage firm Tagomi in a reportedly “all-stocks” deal. The announcement was also made on Wednesday.
The marriage between Coinbase and Tagomi will present a formidable competition to BitGo given Coinbase’s position in the market. Coinbase also runs a custody business. There is an exponential growth in products catering to institutional investors which shows a growing interest by professional clientele to access the novel crypto markets.
