trueEX, a swap execution facility catering to the institutional market, today announced plans to launch a regulated derivatives marketplace for blockchain assets. The initial contracts will be for bitcoin non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) settled in USD and will be listed under the trueDigital brand on the existing trueEX swap execution platform.
Blockchain or digital assets, including bitcoin and ether, now comprise in excess of $430 billion in market capitalization. trueEX believes that while attracting greater institutional interest, the U.S. marketplace has been lacking the regulatory and technology building blocks needed for institutional involvement and participation.
The trueDigital contracts are subject to a licensing and services agreement with a newly-formed affiliate of trueEX, trueDigital Holdings (TDH), that will provide product development, and act as the sales and marketing arm for the new products. At the same time, TDH will enter into a strategic partnership with the Ethereum blockchain venture studio, ConsenSys, to develop a benchmark rate for ether (ETH).
“Institutional investors and commercial partners are ready for a regulated and liquid marketplace to gain exposure to and hedge these increasingly important digital currencies and commodities, but the marketplace is sorely lacking the necessary foundation, infrastructure, and platforms that institutional investors have come to expect in other important markets.”