Swissquote Exchange (SQX) is a central limit order book (CLOB) which offers liquidity alongside an environment to trade cryptocurrencies to a wide range of market participants.

Users are able to trade, hold, and transfer crypto assets in their Swissquote account, backed by the security associated with a regulated Swiss bank.

Since launching in October 2022, SQX has expanded its offerings to include more than 40 cryptocurrencies.

According to the firm, B2C2 provides liquidity across market conditions, and offers bid ask spreads which enable traders to execute trades with minimal price impact as well as efficient settlement and improved capital efficiency through appropriate credit offerings.

“SQX has proven itself as the biggest and strongest digital assets exchange in Switzerland leading with greater liquidity and faster execution for our customers, strengthening our position as a recognised leader in crypto trading,” said Jan De Schepper, chief sales and marketing officer at Swissquote. 

“We are delighted to have B2C2 as a strategic partner at our side. Together, we are committed to providing superior execution, enhanced transparency and an even better overall trading experience.”

The collaboration between SGX and B2C2 seeks to help create a robust, liquid, and attractive marketplace in digital assets for institutional investors and other market participants, which can ultimately increase trading activity and improving operational efficiency.

The addition of B2C2 on SGX will expand the liquidity available to traders, while SGX will link new market participants to B2C2’s trading ecosystem.

“We are pleased to deepen liquidity on the SQX exchange, providing clients with enhanced trading opportunities and reinforcing our competitive edge in the industry. Together, we are poised to unlock new growth avenues through liquidity solutions,” said Thomas Restout, group chief executive of B2C2.

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Simon Forster and Duncan Trenholme, co-heads of digital assets, TP ICAP:

Alex Walker, VP global network sales for crypto, IPC: Under constant pressure from investors to seek out stronger returns, hedge fund attentions are still likely to be on the high risk/high reward world of crypto in the New Year. One of the attractive elements about crypto for the algo driven hedge funds is that the completely unregulated nature of the market is yielding some very strong returns for investors. However, 2023 could be the year where regulation of the crypto market starts to take shape – with directives such as ESMA’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) recently approved by the European Parliament. As the regulatory landscape becomes clearer, hedge fund managers currently reaping the rewards from a lighter touch regime will need to adjust quickly. This is when these same hedge funds will need a complete solution for their existing trading requirements to plug in to raw and normalised market data – not only connecting them to regulated crypto exchanges, but also to transit through to those major counterparty-to-counterparty hubs.

Edmond Goh, head trader, B2C2: Next year looks set to be a year of cautious rebuilding. Overall volumes will likely remain depressed to start as investors stay on the side lines barring any further shocks. The FOMO trade is dead and won’t be resurrected anytime soon. What will drive markets in its place? OTC volumes have been resilient in the face of negative news, indicating that market structures have matured despite these trying times. They will mature further next year as demand for transparency around firms’ balance sheets and business models grows. Trading will continue to shift from retail to institutional, so more TradFi best practices, such as risk management, governance, and accounting, will become the norm.

The institutional market will also move to establish clearer boundaries between trading and lending as crypto market structures evolve – a process that was happening before FTX imploded but will now accelerate as a result. At the same time, Defi markets and DEX’s are gaining share with retail traders, who potentially feel safer retaining custody of their funds. Crypto regulation will also accelerate next year. The European Union’s MiCA comes into force in Q1, but its limited geographic scope highlights the key issue: crypto is global and regulation local. How will governments address regulatory arbitrage? And what adjustments will they – and the entire industry – make in the wake of FTX’s collapse? It’s too soon to know the true extent of the fallout, but a more grown-up market is already appearing in its wake.

Toby Norfolk-Thompson, chief investment officer, Matrixport: We believe that decentralised finance (DeFi) is a game changer with the potential to financialise all aspects of life and collapse operational costs and risk. For instance, DeFi can unlock value for a huge range of assets such as membership rights or media royalties currently largely untouched by traditional finance and by making these assets available for transactions, substantial value can be created.

Similarly, DeFi’s role in infusing transparency and accountability into financial services cannot go unnoticed. Ongoing developments in the digital assets industry have underscored the importance of segregating custody, clearing, and transaction settlement. In recent days we have seen trust collapse in a number of centralised financial platforms whilst DeFi has continued to perform and deliver.  In the long term, we see this trend enabling all financial markets to become more decentralised via this technology.

As DeFi increases in systematic importance, regulators around the globe will be motivated to develop qualifications and certifications for digital asset financial services to instil investor confidence in decentralised markets.  This endeavour will be coupled with more research and education about the underlying technology and its applications, ultimately accelerating the adoption of DeFi.

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Baton Systems appointed Alistair Griffiths as its new director of EMEA sales. Griffiths joined from FIS Global, where he served as senior sales executive of post-trade solutions, responsible for sales in the UK, Channel Islands and the Netherlands. He brings considerable experience to Baton Systems, having also previously served at BNY Mellon and BlackRock. Most recently, he served as BNY Mellon’s vice president, relationship manager and prior to that, served as production manager at BlackRock. Based in London, Griffiths reports to Alex Knight, global head of sales, with a focus on new business acquisitions across all Baton solutions in the region.

Goldman Sachs appointed Adesh Choraria as an executive director in equity sales. Choraria joins the investment bank from Morgan Stanley, where he held an equity derivatives sales position for five years. Prior to that, he served at Deutsche Bank for three years in a similar role. Earlier in his career, Choraria spent nearly a year at Knight Assets & Co. in a global equities position, and before that, served in another equity derivatives role at Commerzbank AG.

Plato Partnership added UBS Asset Management’s Lynn Challenger to its board of directors. Challenger holds over 25 years’ experience in capital markets, multi-asset trading, technology, best execution and investment operations. He currently serves as managing director, global head of trading and order generation at UBS Asset Management, where he has spent the last six years. Prior to that, Challenger spent nearly a year at Bridgewater Associates as head of execution – trading. Challenger also previously served on the board of directors at San Francisco-based, non-profit organisation, March of Dimes.

Trading software and liquidity services provider Finalto named Andrew Biggs as group head of risk and trading. Biggs has been promoted to the role after serving as head of liquidity and systematic market making at Finalto since May 2018 – a position he maintained after the acquisition and rebrand of CFH Clearing to Finalto. Before joining CFH Clearing, Biggs served as head of liquidity and risk analysis at IS Prime, and prior to that, held the position of head of electronic trading solutions at the firm. Earlier in his career, Biggs served in an institutional sales role at Sucden Financial and before that as a sales and relations executive at ICM Capital before eventually assuming the role of UK sales and relations manager.

Melbourne-based superannuation fund, AustralianSuper, appointed Nina Marsh as a senior equity dealer. Marsh joins the firm from Liberum, where she spent the last 14 years, most recently as an equity sales trader. Prior to that, she spent eight years at Deutsche Bank, serving in the same role.

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She will replace Phillip Gillespie, who will step down from the role to focus on a ventures role with SBI, the Japanese financial group which acquired B2C2 in 2020.

White has been promoted to the position after serving as chief executive officer, USA for B2C2 over the last year. During her tenure, she led the effort to expand B2C2’s capabilities in electronic trading across spot and derivatives.

Before joining B2C2, White spent five years at Citadel Securities, most recently serving as global chief operating officer of fixed income. Prior to that, she was global head of electronic markets within the fixed income division at Morgan Stanley.

“I knew we made a strong hire when Nicola joined the New Jersey office in 2021. Earlier this year I supported her promotion within B2C2’s leadership,” said Max Boonen, co-founder and director of B2C2.

“The next twelve months in the crypto market will not be for the faint of heart and I am glad to have Nicola with us as we embark on an aggressive effort of market share expansion.” 

Alongside White’s appointment, B2C2 also recently named Thomas Restout as chief executive officer of EMEA.

Restout joined B2C2 from Morgan Stanley, where he most recently served as global head of macro electronic trading. According to B2C2, he has brought additional and complementary market knowledge, as well as risk management and product innovation expertise to the firm.

“I am honored and excited to be appointed to the role of Group CEO at this time of significant growth for the firm,” said White.

“Despite the current stresses the market is experiencing, in the future the crypto market will emerge stronger, and I’m looking forward to working with Thomas and my outstanding team as we drive the industry forward.”

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Senior execution consultant at Liquidnet, Joe Fields, left the firm to join the global trading team at BlackRock as a trading performance and cost expert. He joins after spending the last five and a half years at Liquidnet, most recently as a senior execution consultant. He originally joined the firm in May 2017 as an execution consultant in electronic trading. Previously in his career, Fields spent eight and a half years at ITG, including almost half of that time in an algorithmic trading execution focused role.

Equity and derivatives trader, Jean-Philippe Lhomme, joined Societe Generale as an electronic sales trader after most recently serving at Groupama Asset Management for the last three years. Lhomme joined the investment bank with an extensive equity and equity derivatives career behind him, having previously served in various trading roles across Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse and futures brokerage, Newedge and Franco-German financial services firm ODDO BHF for the last 15 years.

State Street appointed Christian Schuetze as managing director, head of financing solution for Europe, within its global markets segment at State Street Bank International (SSIB). His appointment comes as part of State Street’s strategy to expand in Europe and as part of the role, Schuetze will oversee growth in the region and the expansion of client relationships. He joined from State Street from Société Générale, where he served as head of cross asset financing sales for the DACH region and the Nordics over the last eight and a half years. Prior to that, Schuetze held responsibility for the sales of equity derivatives and equity finance offerings at both Royal Bank of Scotland and BNP Paribas in the DACH region.

Sterling Trading Tech appointed Jennifer Nayar as its new president and chief executive officer. She joins the firm from Vela Trading Systems, where she served as chief executive for six and a half years. Prior to that, Nayar was technology chief of staff at REDI Global Technologies and before that, served as senior vice president, global market data at NYSE. Previously in her career, Nayar held senior product management positions at NYFIX (now part of Broadridge Trading and Connectivity Solutions), Omgeo and Thomson ESG.

Northern Trust made a string of appointments within its global capital markets business to establish a new client solutions team. Within the capital markets institutional equity brokerage business, Glenn Poulter was appointed as global head of Northern Trust’s outsourced trading service, Integrated Trading Solutions (ITS). Stephanie Farrel was appointed as head of ITS for the Americas and Amy Thorne will now operate as head of ITS for EMEA. Elsewhere, Jon Cherry, was appointed head of brokerage for the Americas. Gerard Walsh has been named global head of client solutions for capital markets and Grant Johnsey was appointed in the newly created role of head of client solutions for capital markets in the Americas.

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Thomas Restout

Morgan Stanley’s global head of macro electronic trading, Thomas Restout, this week joined digital asset liquidity provider B2C2 as its new CEO of EMEA, the latest senior executive to join the crypto exodus.  

Restout, who will report to B2C2 group CEO Phillip Gillespie, has long experience in the digital asset space, including as a member of Morgan Stanley’s Securities Digital Currencies working group and as the driving force behind the adoption of crypto trading within the bank’s fixed income division. He was previously at Goldman Sachs and began his career at Natixis. 

“The tremendous growth of crypto assets during recent years shows its acceptance as an established asset class, attracting a growing range of institutional participants. B2C2 is a highly successful and strategic innovator in this market. I am excited to be joining the team to help accelerate expansion by widening the offering further, through leveraging technology and quantitative approaches,” said Restout. 

“Institutional interest in cryptocurrencies is spurring more TradFi participants into committing significant resources towards the understanding, productisation and commercialisation of digital markets,” added Gillespie. “B2C2 has grown to become one of the leaders driving this convergence. Our appointment of Thomas adds additional and complementary market knowledge, as well as risk management and product innovation expertise to B2C2. I am thrilled to welcome Thomas to B2C2.” 

In other news, Wells Fargo also recently lost its head of electronic sales and trading, Peter Eliades, who departed in August to join crypto prime brokerage Floating Point Group as global head of distribution. Eliades, who also held the role of head of Americas trading for JP Morgan for over 10 years between 2008-18, will be responsible for sales and business development in the US and APAC, reporting to co-founder Kevin March. 

“Peter has built world-class electronic trading businesses for decades and understands the role that crypto will play in shaping the future of global financial systems. Bringing Peter on is a ground-breaking moment for our team, as we continue to see demand for best-in-class institutional offerings from our clients and potential participants,” said John Peurifoy, co-founder and CEO at Floating Point.  

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Thomas Restout assumes the role and will report to Phillip Gillespie, group CEO, effective immediately.

Restout joins from Morgan Stanley where he was responsible for strategy, product innovation and execution across a range of disciplines, assets and trading protocols.

As part of his role, Restout operated as a member of the Morgan Stanley Securities Digital Currencies working group and oversaw crypto trading for the firm’s fixed income division.

Previously in his career, Restout served as executive director for eFX electronic trading, EMEA at Goldman Sachs and as a foreign exchange trader at Natixis.

“Institutional interest in cryptocurrencies is spurring more TradFi participants into committing significant resources towards the understanding, productisation and commercialisation of digital markets,” said Gillespie.

“Our appointment of Thomas adds additional and complementary market knowledge, as well as risk management and product innovation expertise to B2C2.”

Restout’s appointment follows that of Nicola White, who joined B2C2 last year as president of its US business. White joined from Citadel Securities where she served as fixed income chief operations officer.

“The tremendous growth of crypto assets during recent years shows its acceptance as an established asset class, attracting a growing range of institutional participants,” said Restout.

“I am excited to be joining the team to help accelerate expansion by widening the offering further, through leveraging technology and quantitative approaches.”

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B2C2 was established in 2015 and is a crypto-native liquidity provider with over 450 active institutional clients in more than 50 countries. A wide range of OTC desks, FX brokers, aggregators, banks and hedge funds utilise B2C2 to gain principal liquidity across market conditions.

A full service offering across spot, funding and derivative products is provided by the firm with 24/7/365 global coverage and client support.

In 2019, B2C2 replaced the Digital Asset Purchase Agreement in use with the introduction of a crypto-specific ISDA Master Agreement, providing clients with the standard legal framework under which to trade.

In addition, B2C2 became the first to launch electronic pricing and execution in 2019 and was the first European firm to receive a MiFID regulatory licence for its derivatives business.

“At B2C2 we provide a safe, efficient and resilient framework for institutional firms seeking to participate in the fast-growing crypto asset class,” said Nicola White, president of B2C2 USA, who was appointed to the position in August last year.

“We are delighted to now be a part of ISDA and look forward to helping our clients advance their capabilities in crypto derivatives, a market segment with huge potential.” 

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Nicola White joins B2C2 from Citadel Securities where she had served as global operations chief for fixed income for nearly four years, remaining under a non-compete for the last year and a half.

In her role at Citadel Securities, she was responsible for the market maker’s strategy for establishing its fixed income institutional business with Citadel Securities becoming the only non-bank market-making member of TradeWeb during her tenure.

Prior to Citadel Securities, White also served at Morgan Stanley for 12 years, most recently as global head of electronic markets for fixed income. She originally joined the US investment bank in 2003 as an analyst, going on to serve in several roles across electronic trading and its rates business.

“She [Nicola White] brings with her a vast network of relationships in the traditional finance space, as well as the tools to help ensure that whatever regulatory change occurs in our market, B2C2 will be prepared, thereby allowing a seamless transition for our existing products as well as our new initiatives,” said Rob Catalanello, co-chief executive officer of B2C2.

White joins B2C2 following its acquisition by Japan’s SBI in December last year. Since its acquisition, the market marker said it had also recently expanded its offering outside of crypto to include 24/7 FX trading.

Institutional interest in cryptocurrency trading has continued to grow in the last year, leading to several infrastructure initiatives to be launched in the market.

Cryptocurrency exchanges Gemini and Archax both became the first trading venues to receive approval from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) last year while more recently US private equity investor JC Flowers acquired a stake in cryptocurrency exchange operator LMAX Group last month for $300 million.

“I have been watching cryptocurrency markets as they are innovating at a fast pace and I want to use my experience in growing fixed income businesses to help drive the crypto industry forward,” said White.

“B2C2 for me combines many things that I’m passionate about: improving liquidity and transparency through market-making, spurring the development of new markets, and helping clients solve problems.”

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The deal follows news in July that SBI Financial Services, the subsidiary of SBI Holdings, had agreed to take a minority stake in B2C2 for $30 million.

SBI said the acquisition placed it at the “centre of the cryptocurrency markets”, making it a natural entry point for institutions seeking a sell-side counterparty to trade in cryptocurrencies.

“B2C2 has an exceptional reputation for its world-class products and services, superb technology and valuable client base,” said Yoshitaka Kitao, president and chief executive of SBI Holdings.

Headquartered in London, B2C2 was previously appointed as the primary liquidity provider for SBI, allowing its institutional clients to trade through the firm’s platform. Since then, B2C2’s volumes have surged at B2C2 and across SBI’s digital exchange.

“With Bitcoin hitting an all-time high this month, it is dawning on everyone in finance that crypto is here to stay,” said Max Boonen, founder of B2C2. “The timing could not be better for SBI, a financial firm admired for its farsightedness, who is not simply dipping in but opening a new chapter for the industry.

“The integration is well underway, with both firms’ client bases already benefiting from our combined capabilities. We share a bold vision of the influence that crypto will exert on financial markets over the coming decade.”

The move by SBI to launch a dealing desk for digital assets marks an important step in the facilitation of institutional adoption of crypto. In recent years, institutional crypto exchanges have been launched globally and banks have made efforts to support the space with custody and post-trade services.

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