EDX Markets, the Citadel Securities-backed crypto exchange, has applied for a national trust bank charter, marking a new step in its effort to serve institutional clients.
The exchange submitted its filing to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Wednesday, according to documents seen by CoinDesk. The move comes about three and a half years after the company launched.
If approved, the charter would allow EDX to offer custody, asset management and core trading services, while continuing to run its core order matching platform. The presentation describes a structure where custody and settlement are within a regulated trust entity, separate from business operations.
EDX Markets targets traditional financial companies entering digital assets. Its backers include Fidelity Digital Assets and Charles Schwab Corp, along with Citadel Securities. The platform went live in summer 2023 with four cryptocurrencies: bitcoin ether (ETH), and bitcoin cash (BHC). It has since been expanded to include 17 additional tokens.
“EDX Trust is a key step in bringing traditional market structure to digital assets,” CEO Tony Acuña-Rohter told CoinDesk. “By separating custody and settlement into a regulated trust, we are building the type of infrastructure that banks and institutional investors have come to expect as they scale in the space.”
EDX is not the only one seeking this type of regulatory foundation. Several cryptocurrency companies have applied for and received trust bank charters in recent years, using them to offer custody and other services under US supervision. These approvals have become a key avenue for companies seeking to attract institutional capital.
Competition for those customers has intensified. Large asset managers and trading firms want platforms that reflect the safeguards and structure of traditional markets. In practice, that may mean segregated custody, clear settlement processes and regulated entities that reduce counterparty risk. For exchanges like EDX, obtaining trust status could help close that gap.
