TP ICAP, the world's biggest inter-dealer broker, said its digital assets business marked a major milestone with the first cryptocurrency-related trades completed with Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS).
The first trades were of an exchange-trade product, ETC Group Physical Bitcoin, and a CME bitcoin futures deal.
The digital assets branch of the firm was formed in 2019, with the company saying last year that it was building a new cryptocurrency trading platform for institutional clients that would “significantly expand” its footprint in the market.
It has leaned on crypto exchange traded products market makers DRW, Flow Traders and Jane Street to provide liquidity for crypto asset trading.
TP ICAP says it is actively providing liquidity to its clients across the CME bitcoin, ethereum futures and bitcoin options and is expanding its product offering alongside partners such as Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS).
The company’s crypto services are currently only available to European customers, though it said there are plans to expand into the US soon.
Simon Forster, co-head of TP ICAP Digital Assets, said: “We’ve seen increasing interest in crypto assets products this year as it continues to mature and institutionalise as an asset class. We expect to see more growth and more demand for these kinds of products in 2022.”