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The Swiss inventory alternate is exploring the creation of a venue in Europe for buying and selling cryptocurrencies, in a bid to muscle in on a market dominated by long-standing digital property companies resembling Binance, OKX and Coinbase.
The group is contemplating utilizing its status and Switzerland’s superior crypto legal guidelines as a hook for big conventional traders who’re rising considering buying and selling digital property.
“Crypto has change into an increasing number of a recognised asset class,” Bjørn Sibbern, international head of exchanges at SIX Group, instructed the Monetary Occasions, including that the corporate is inspecting creating “a platform the place we may help facilitate buying and selling, whether or not it’s [spot] crypto or whether or not it’s derivatives”.
Conventional finance companies have largely shied away from establishing crypto buying and selling venues owing to a scarcity of clear regulation and fears over reputational harm.
A couple of large companies resembling Deutsche Boerse, Nomura and Standard Chartered have arrange their very own crypto exchanges, usually separate from their fundamental companies.
However Cboe World Markets shut its spot crypto venue this yr, blaming a scarcity of clear regulation. CME Group explored launching bitcoin trading in Could, the FT reported, though its chief government has since stated the alternate has no present plans.
The approval of spot bitcoin and ethereum alternate traded funds by the US Securities and Alternate Fee earlier this yr spurred a rush of retail and institutional funding into the asset, and raised hopes that extra traders could be eager to then commerce the cash immediately themselves.
Though the value of bitcoin, the world’s hottest cryptocurrency, has fallen to about $60,000 from a report excessive of about $72,000 earlier this yr, it’s nonetheless up 40 per cent this yr.
Switzerland has change into one of the vital crypto-friendly international locations in Europe, with legal guidelines across the buying and selling and custody of property and the classification of several types of tokens that many different international locations are but to introduce.
“We’re taking a look at different methods for us to develop in Europe and as part of that, we’re additionally taking a look at [whether] crypto must be part of it,” Sibbern stated, including that the venue would solely be obtainable to institutional traders resembling asset managers.
“We see the pattern that an increasing number of international banks and establishments are taking a look at crypto,” he added.
SIX runs a crypto derivatives firm referred to as AsiaNext out of Singapore, in a three way partnership with Japan’s SBI Group. “We’re taking a look at ought to we do one thing related in Europe,” Sibbern stated, including that the corporate “might additionally say that is one thing we don’t need to pursue”.
The Swiss group, which is owned by 120 banks, runs a separate digital alternate, the place 9 digital bonds have been listed since 2018 by issuers resembling funding financial institution UBS and the town of Lugano native authority. Sibbern stated the digital alternate “might . . . develop that idea” to incorporate crypto buying and selling itself.
Crypto buying and selling would additionally mark a notable enlargement for SIX, whose itemizing venues in Switzerland and Madrid hosted two of the most important IPOs in Europe this yr — Spanish magnificence group Puig and dermatology group Galderma.
