BitGo Launches Full-Service Institutional Trading Platform, BitGo Prime

BitGo, a United States-based firm that handles about 20% of all Bitcoin (BTC) transactions, is introducing BitGo Prime, a new entity specifically for institutional trading services.

On May 27, BitGo said that the new prime broker platform will incorporate multiple services targeting institutional investors. After launching an institutional-level crypto lending service in March 2020, the new full-service platform integrates institutional crypto lending, trading and custody services.

BitGo focuses on institutional investors

Apart from the recent launch of institutional crypto lending services, BitGo has been actively working with institutional traders. Nick Carmi, head of financial services at BitGo and the newly appointed CEO of BitGo Prime, told Cointelegraph that institutional-grade trading services have been available on BitGo in private beta for several months:

“BitGo has always been focused on servicing institutional investors. What’s different here is that we’ve launched a prime broker business to deeply integrate the services of lending, trading and custody.”

BitGo says that the new platform allows trading from insured cold storage that is offered exclusively to BitGo Prime clients, whose assets are held with regulated custodian BitGo Trust.

At the initial launch, BitGo Prime will feature trading for the top-two cryptocurrencies — Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) — and the United States dollar, the firm said. “We will be adding support for the top 12 most active coins very shortly,” Carmi noted.

BitGo Prime traders will remain undisclosed to market makers

As part of its new institutional-grade prime platform, BitGo promises to ensure anonymity for traders. BitGo Prime clients remain “completely anonymous” while trading, with the platform itself being their sole counterparty. 

Carmi explained that traders on BitGo Prime remain undisclosed to market makers, while the platform ensures compliance with Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering measures:

“The client is not anonymous to BitGo — they’ve been fully vetted under KYC/AML procedures. They remain undisclosed to the market and market makers. This is important so as not to tip off who may be making large trades and is standard practice with prime brokers in more traditional asset classes.”

The news comes as institutional investors gain more interest in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. In April 2020, digital asset management fund Grayscale reported that Q1 2020 became its biggest quarter ever, with the majority of new capital coming from institutional investors. More than 90% of Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust inflows come from institutional players.