Brief
- GFO-X, a regulated platform for term contracts and Bitcoin options erased centrally, has been launched in the United Kingdom with the authority of the Authority Conduct Authority, targeting 90% of institutions currently unable to participate in the crypto due to regulatory concerns.
- CEO Arnab Sen has revealed that “dozens” level 1 institutions and banks, including Nomura, are under discussion, the platform already performing its first institutional trade between Virtu Financial and BMI.
- The company aims to differentiate itself from American competitors such as the deribit and the CME group acquired in Coinbase by offering 24/7 trading capacities on the underlying bitcoin index rather than on term contracts.
A regulated trading platform for term contracts and Bitcoin options erased centrally, GFO-X, was launched in the United Kingdom for the first time.
The company says that its arrival is in the context of the growing demand for institutional investors, including hedge funds.
The company has been authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority and says that it offers “compliance with global financial standards”.
CEO and co-founder Arnab Sen said Decipher That the regulatory environment in the United Kingdom is constructively evolving, the government “actively progressing the regulations of cryptography and stable” so that institutions can participate.
“Location in the United Kingdom allows GFO-X to fill traditional finances and digital assets, maximizing the effectiveness of capital while approaching the market call to safe and compliant places,” he said in an email.
Sen provides for high demand and revealed that “dozens” of level 1 institutions and banks, including Nomura, are currently committed to integrated discussions.
GFO-X also executed its first institutional trade, between Virtu Financial and BMI, which “signals the confidence of the main decision-makers”.
He hopes that the company will be aimed at 90% of institutions currently unable to participate in the space of digital assets due to regulatory or market structure concerns. Sen said he expected “significant volume growth” in the second half of 2025.
When asked if competition from the best known American competitors, such as Deribit (which had just been acquired by Coinbase) and Kraken, is a concern, Sen said that GFO-X “provides a level of regulatory monitoring and attenuation of counterparties” that many American sites cannot.
But it’s not just the natives of Crypto GFO-X with. There are also traditional financing players.
“While American places like CME are well established, GFO-X is specially designed for digital asset derivatives, with term contracts and Bitcoin index options adapted to institutional use-notably offering options on the underlying index, which are more transparent and effective at prices than options on term contracts”, he explained.
Another “convincing edge” comes from how GFO-X can accommodate 24/7 professions, while the exchange of inherited derivatives work during opening hours.
Sen described the authorization process of the FCA as “excellent”, a contrast striking with the frustration that certain cryptographic companies have expressed.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
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