Citadel-Backed Crypto Exchange Targets November For Soft Launch, January For Official Launch

Citadel’s latest exchange project that is going to allow for investing in digital assets and crypto tokens, is almost ready for launch. 

The exchange, called EDX Markets, is backed by Charles Schwab, Fidelity Digital Assets, Paradigm, Sequoia Capital, Citadel Securities and Virtu Financial, according to a new report from Bloomberg out this morning.

It is set to begin trading in a limited number of spot crypto tokens this November for a trial period and has slated its official launch for January. The exchange will “allow investors to buy and sell digital assets from through their existing broker dealer”, the report says. 

The exchange’s Chief Executive Officer Jamil Nazarali, whose background includes formerly working as global head of business development at Citadel, told Bloomberg this week: “We’re taking some of the best features of traditional finance and bringing it to the digital markets to make it more efficient, and bring that cost saving to investors.”

He is joined by other industry veterans that include David Forman, former chief legal officer at Fidelity Brokerage Services. The exchange’s Chief Technology Officer was also former CTO at ErisX, which is now owned by CBOE Global Markets.

Technology for the exchange is being built by MEMX and the exchange’s headquarters will be in Secaucus, New Jersey. The software being used for the exchange assures that trades will be processed in the order in which they are received. 

MEMX CEO Jonathan Kellner said that the company’s foray into crypto can be done without a “complete overhaul”. Existing infrastructure is being modified for use in trading crypto, the report says. 

Nazarali concluded: “Many investors are interested in cryptocurrencies but are worried about a potential hack, or other unknowns with existing crypto exchanges. But they are familiar with broker dealers in other asset classes, and if crypto is offered, they are comfortable trading through them.”

“By separating the responsibility for operating an exchange from those trading on it, conflicts of interest are also eliminated.”

We first reported on the project back in June. Citadel Securities had been “quietly hiring executives” to build out a crypto trading stack, a source told CoinDesk at the time:

“This marketplace is intended to create more efficient access to deep pools of liquidity for digital assets. So a group of industry leaders are working closely together to facilitate the safe, clean, compliant and secure trading of digital assets,” the source told CoinDesk.