smartTrade Technologies, a provider of electronic trading solutions, disclosed the addition ofmore virtual currencies to the company’s forex trading platform. According to smartTrade, clients of the firm who use the LFX platform will gain access to the world’s ten biggest digital currencies in terms of market cap. Currently, the leading ten digital currencies account for around 70% of the daily turnover in the market.
The development comes as institutional investors have expressed desire for increased access to the digital currency market. Initially, demand was highest for Bitcoin (BTC), but other virtual currencies are now becoming just as popular.
“Where inquiries and discussions in 2017 were mainly related to Bitcoin, we now start to see an increasing interest from institutions to be able to trade multiple cryptocurrencies. Therefore, we decided to explore and invest in connectivity to various Crypto Exchanges,” said David Vincent, CEO of smartTrade Technologies.
Connected to major exchanges
Since digital currencies are highly decentralized, clients find difficulty finding the best prices during the course of trading. With smartTrade, these challenges are fleeting since the LFX platform enjoys connectivity to major digital currency exchanges. This allows clients to manage and place orders using SOR – Smart Order Routing Logic, which enhances transparency. The LFX platform is feature-rich. The functionalities it offers includes analytics, hosting and colocation, order management, auto-hedging, auto-pricing, price distribution and pricing engines.
smartTrade Technologies is not the only firm that is seeking to lure institutional investors. San Francisco’s Coinbase is also planning to introduce new services and revamp its trading technology. Their goal is to lure additional institutional investors, high-frequency trading firms and hedge funds.
New matching engine
With regards to revamping its trading, Coinbase has indicated that a building a new matching engine. With it, firms can better match sell and by orders for digital currencies in a much shorter time. New introduction of products targeting institutional investors include, Coinbase Prime, The Coinbase Institutional Coverage Group, Coinbase Markets and Coinbase Custody.
According to the general manager and vice president of Coinbase, Adam White, the moves could assist in unlocking approximately $10 billion held by institutional investors. Coinbase believes more than 100 hedge funds are focused purely on virtual currency trading and investing. Furthermore, these hedge funds have launched quite recently and provide a reflection of growth and customer demand in the sector.
