State Street Global Advisors and Galaxy Asset Management have announced a strategic partnership to develop a range of crypto products, including spot and futures-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
TakeAway Points:
- Galaxy Digital and State Street Global Advisors are working together to create cryptocurrency products, such as futures- and spot-based exchange-traded funds.
- Crossover Markets, has successfully raised $12 million in a Series A funding round led by Illuminate Financial and DRW Venture Capital.
- Alphabet Inc.’s Google and CME Group Inc. are collaborating to build a new cloud-computing network to transition CME’s futures and options trading into the cloud.
State Street and Galaxy’s Crypto initiates Partnership
State Street, a subsidiary of financial services giant State Street (STT), has filed an application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to register a crypto-based fund named the SSGA Active Trust. Galaxy Digital (GLXY), a financial services company specializing in digital assets, will manage the fund’s investments.
The collaboration aims to provide investors with access to the $2.4 trillion digital asset ecosystem through manager-directed strategies.
“We believe that the digital assets landscape is so much more than the single crypto components and that crypto native companies are best equipped to understand that ecosystem and its correlation with financial markets,” said Anna Paglia, State Street Global Advisors’ chief business officer.
This partnership underscores the growing recognition of cryptocurrency as an asset class, especially following the U.S. approval of spot bitcoin ETFs in January.
$12 million raise for Crossover Markets
Crossover Markets, a high-speed execution-only trading platform for cryptocurrencies, has successfully raised $12 million in a Series A funding round led by Illuminate Financial and DRW Venture Capital. The platform, which recently partnered with prime broker Hidden Road, is one of the few ultra-low-latency electronic communication networks (ECNs) in the crypto space. Unlike traditional crypto exchanges that use a central limit order book execution model, Crossover Markets offers multiple independent market data sessions and pools of liquidity.
“If we onboard 50 takers of liquidity, we can have up to 50 independent market data sessions and 50 pools of liquidity,” said Brandon Mulvihill, CEO of Crossover Markets.
The platform charges one basis point to both the maker and the taker, providing value to both parties. In the first quarter of this year, Crossover Markets handled over $3.15 billion in notional trading value. Illuminate Financial founder Mark Beeston will join Crossover’s board of directors, and existing investors include Flow Traders, Laser Digital, Two Sigma, Wintermute, and several retail brokers.
Google and CME’s Cloud Initiative
Alphabet Inc.’s Google and CME Group Inc. are collaborating to build a new cloud-computing network to transition CME’s futures and options trading into the cloud. The new facilities will be constructed next to CME’s existing data center in Aurora, Illinois, with construction set to begin later this year. This initiative is part of a 10-year alliance formed in 2021, which included a $1 billion equity investment by Google in CME.
“This is a significant step forward in our partnership,” said CME Chief Executive Officer Terry Duffy.
The decision to keep the data center in the Chicago area was influenced by market makers and high-speed trading firms that opposed a move elsewhere.
“We decided to build the new facility in Aurora to ensure minimal disruption for our clients,” Duffy added.
The new facility will allow market participants to leverage specialized cloud services and existing investments in the area, according to Rohit Bhat, managing director of capital markets, exchanges, and digital assets at Google Cloud.
CME will provide its clients with 18 months’ notice before transitioning to the new platform. The company’s cash markets will continue to operate in their current facilities. Firms migrating to the new facility will have access to Google’s cloud services, including artificial intelligence tools and data analytics.
The matching engine, which links buyers and sellers in a trade, will also move to the cloud. CME customers will be able to test cloud-based trading in the Dallas Google Cloud facility, which will eventually serve as a disaster-recovery center.
