FalconX, the digital asset prime broker, announced its partnership with the international banking group Standard Chartered. The two companies aim to expand services for institutional clients with crypto liquidity and banking services.
The crypto prime broker, will partner with the Standard Chartered banking group. The combined efforts of the companies will go toward securing services and liquidity for institutional investors. In the first phase of the partnership, Standard Chartered will expand access to banking services for FalconX clients.
Standard Chartered will offer banking infrastructure
Access to the Standard Chartered banking infrastructure will allow FalconX to tap multiple fiat currency pairs for faster, more reliable cross-border settlements. This will allow the crypto prime broker to have a high-grade off-ramp for large-scale institutional clients.
Secure banking services have been one of the key bottlenecks for crypto companies, due to regulations or overall skepticism of crypto assets.
“At FalconX, we support trading and financing for some of the world’s largest institutions in digital asset markets, and this relationship strengthens our ability to deliver robust banking and FX solutions to clients who rely on us to operate in crypto markets,” said Matt Long, General Manager for APAC and the Middle East at FalconX.
The partnership tracks the recent trend of combining traditional finance with crypto purchases. Institutions have shown interest in both purchasing and actively using crypto. The firm’s portfolio of services targets payment solution companies, asset managers, hedge funds, as well as native token issuers.
FalconX reports a total of 600 institutional clients, offering more involved banking as the crypto market heats up once again.
FalconX gets a head start in bridging crypto and traditional finance
Having a reliable banking operation as a fiat off-ramp is key to quality crypto services. The ability to partner with an international bank also showcases the increased trust in crypto activity, while previously, crypto companies had limited success finding banks or faced outright hostility and exclusion.
FalconX on its side aims to offer reliable trading, custody, as well as lending liquidity to all participating institutions. In this case, crypto firms also have a head start in bridging traditional finance and crypto. Banks have been reluctant to offer crypto services, so native companies have equipped themselves with banking options.
The company’s subsidiary, FalconX Bravo, Inc., was the first CFTC-registered dealer focused on cryptocurrency derivative trading. It also hinted at seeking acquisitions to expand its available services.
In its crypto activity, FalconX remains a small-scale investor in decentralized projects. So far, the platform has participated in 10 funding rounds, with a loss of over 83% due to bear market conditions.
The 2024 bull market translated into increased revenues for FalconX, up 2.5 times compared to the same period of 2023. It reports over $1.5T in trading volumes from its inception until 2023, still processing subsequent trading.
FalconX was successful in its own fundraising, with $427M acquired in multiple VC-backed rounds. It received its seed round in 2020 and had to survive a prolonged bear market while building up its services. Based on its financing, the firm is valued at $8B.
