EDX Crypto Exchange Reaches $36 Billion in Trading Volume in 2024

EDX Markets, a crypto exchange backed by major Wall Street players, has experienced a significant surge in trading activity in 2024, reporting over $36 billion in trading volume since the start of the year, driven by institutional clients.

The exchange’s average daily volume saw a 59% increase in the third quarter of 2024, signaling growing interest in its platform. In October, EDX’s proprietary matching engine handled over 2 million trades and processed more than 2.6 billion orders, demonstrating its capacity to meet rising demand.

Founded in 2022, EDX Markets is supported by prominent financial institutions including Charles Schwab, Citadel Securities, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Sequoia Capital. The platform is primarily focused on serving institutional clients, such as brokers and market makers, aiming to blend the expertise of traditional finance with the growing digital asset sector.

EDX's Launch Amid Regulatory Scrutiny

EDX’s market debut came just months after the collapse of FTX and amid heightened regulatory oversight of major retail crypto exchanges, such as Binance and Coinbase, by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The exchange’s institutional focus sets it apart, offering a more secure and compliant alternative to retail-driven platforms.

A recent report by The Economist, sponsored by OKX, forecasts that institutional investors are expected to increase their digital asset allocations to 7% of their portfolios by 2027, up from the current range of 1-5%. As institutional interest grows, crypto firms are increasingly targeting services tailored to these investors, including trading, clearing, and custodial solutions.

Institutional Crypto Services Expand

In line with this trend, Ripple launched a digital asset custody service for banks and fintech companies in October 2024, while Coinbase introduced a crypto lending service for institutional clients in the U.S. nearly a year ago.

Traditional financial institutions have also been making strides into the crypto space. BNY Mellon, the oldest bank in the U.S., launched a custody platform in October 2022 to safeguard Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) holdings for institutional clients. In November 2023, DZ Bank, Germany’s third-largest bank, followed suit with its own custodial service for digital assets.

State Street, another major financial institution, is developing a digital asset platform for institutional clients, set to offer services like tokenization, node management, and custody. State Street currently manages around $4.3 trillion in assets, highlighting the scale and significance of its move into the digital asset space.

Despite ongoing regulatory challenges, the growing presence of traditional financial institutions in the crypto sector underscores the industry's maturation and the increasing demand for compliant, institutional-grade services.