EDX Markets, the institutional digital asset venue backed by Charles Schwab, Citadel Securities, Fidelity Digital Assets, Paradigm, Sequoia Capital and Virtu Financial, has applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national trust bank charter. The new entity, EDX Trust, would add custody, asset management and riskless principal trading services to the existing execution and settlement platform. Notably, one of its backers, Fidelity, has already received conditional approval for its own OCC trust charter.
Since launching in 2023, EDX Markets has operated a trade execution and settlement venue exclusively for institutional clients, with all trades settled on an end of day net basis. The platform was founded on the premise that digital asset markets need the same separation of functions found in traditional finance, where brokers, exchanges, market makers and custodians operate independently rather than being vertically integrated under one roof.
The trust charter would extend that model by housing custody, settlement and a new riskless principal trading capability inside a federally regulated bank. EDX Trust would provide custody on a fiduciary basis having previously outsourced the role to Anchorage Digital Bank, which holds an existing OCC trust charter. This gives EDX direct control over the full trade lifecycle from execution through settlement and safekeeping.
EDX Trust also plans to provide limited asset management services by investing client collateral and trade proceeds, placing cash and stablecoins into highly liquid instruments and staking or otherwise generating yield on digital assets. On the trading side, EDX Trust would act as a riskless principal, intermediating trades on EDX Markets’ platform, over the counter or on other integrated venues.
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