Wall Street Bank Cowen To Offer Spot Bitcoin Trading

• Boutique concern slope Cowen Inc. volition reportedly connection its organization clients spot bitcoin trading done a caller concern unit.
• “This volition beryllium a meaningful division,” its co-president said.
• Standard Custody & Trust Co. volition enactment arsenic the bank’s cryptocurrency custodian.

Wall Street concern slope Cowen Inc. has debuted a caller integer plus portion to connection spot bitcoin and cryptocurrency trading to organization investors, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

The steadfast leveraged its tiny footprint to front-run its bigger competitors arsenic the concern hub seeks to clasp the burgeoning plus class’ spot markets. Goldman Sachs executed its archetypal over-the-counter (OTC) bitcoin options commercialized earlier this week, trying to plug into derivatives-based offerings arsenic uncertainties and complexities astir spot products clasp backmost developments.

“We person a large archetypal mover vantage successful this space,” Cowen co-president Dan Charney told Bloomberg. “Because of our culture, we’re capable to enactment with our ineligible and compliance and our regulators successful a mode that possibly our bigger competitors aren’t, and we’re conscionable capable to get to solutions faster.”

Cowen’s caller concern portion volition people chiefly the bank’s hedge fund, communal money and household bureau clients, per the report. Assets purchased by these institutions volition beryllium held nether the custody of institutional-grade level Standard Custody & Trust Co.

It is unclear whether clients volition beryllium capable to retreat immoderate bitcoin they purchase, but fixed that Cowen volition enactment arsenic a custodian it appears clients volition not person that option. Without due self-custody, those institutions volition beryllium constricted to the imaginable terms appreciation of the plus and not beryllium capable to store wealthiness without third-party hazard oregon transact worth freely. However, specified usage cases are arguably much compelling for individuals.

Cowen’s caller portion besides plans to connection derivatives and futures trading of cryptocurrency, lending and organization entree to decentralized concern platforms and non-fungible tokens, per the report. The portion launched with 40 employees from the slope but it reportedly plans to much than treble its unit soon.