ErisX is making a bet on crypto-assets with plans announced last week that it will launch a derivatives exchange (DCM) and clearing organisation (DCO) that will include fully regulated digital asset futures and spot contracts on one platform.

The new venture is already backed by an impressive group of investors spanning the traditional capital markets and digital asset markets, including DRW Venture Capital, Valor Equity Partners, TD Ameritrade, Virtu Financial, NEX Opportunities, Cboe Global Markets, CTC Group Investments, Digital Currency Group, Nico Trading, Pantera Capital and Third Stone Partners. It has additional support from CMT Digital, Susquehanna International Group, XR Trading, C2 Capital Management and ED&F Man Capital Markets Inc, which also participated in the investment round.

According to the firm, ErisX is designed to bring a regulated, transparent and stable venue to the digital asset market with the reliability and trusted infrastructure of a centralised exchange. Thomas Chippas, former head of global quantitative execution at Citi, has joined as CEO of ErisX. Neal Brady has been named Executive Chairman.

“Closing this round of funding enables us to accelerate investments in the platform and our team,” says Chippas. “Leveraging our heritage and experience with exchange infrastructure, our market participants will benefit from modern trading tools on a fair and transparent platform. ErisX’s enhanced experience will provide the opportunity for new participants to enter the digital asset market and existing participants a superior venue for their execution and clearing needs.”

“ErisX will eliminate many of the impediments to institutional adoption and usher in a new wave of market participants,” adds Don Wilson, founder and CEO of DRW, which includes Cumberland. “This further develops the digital asset space and brings more transparency to these evolving markets.”

“To function efficiently, financial markets must demonstrate security and compliance, two critical gaps in today’s digital asset markets,” says Antonio Gracias, founder and managing partner at Valor Equity Partners. “ErisX has recognised there is a monumental opportunity to re-imagine digital asset trading, and they’ve developed a platform to deliver a highly secure yet revolutionary experience that will work better, and for more participants.”

“As investors in ErisX, as well as a strategic contributor in the initiative, we are looking forward to advancing our innovation goals by working with an established, CFTC-regulated exchange that will include digital asset futures and spot contracts on a single platform,” says Tim Hockey, president and CEO, TD Ameritrade. “Working with these innovative companies gives us the opportunity to help them develop cryptocurrency products that we believe will fill a gap for retail investors within the digital currency ecosystem.”

“As a global liquidity provider, Virtu supports and engages products and venues across various asset classes,” says Douglas Cifu, CEO of Virtu Financial. “Given the transparent ErisX market model and regulatory framework, it’s natural we would want to provide liquidity and grow this digital asset market centre.”

More recently, CQG, which provides trading, market data, and technical analysis tools, announced a collaboration with ErisX to provide its CQG Desktop as the front-end trading platform.

CQG president, Ryan Moroney, says: “We see the value that ErisX brings to the digital asset space and are excited to partner with them to present the spot crypto markets together with futures contracts on a single platform. In an industry in need of this level of security and transparency, we believe ErisX will open these markets to many of our institutional partners and help move this emerging market forward.”

“We were impressed with the range of trading tools that were included in CQG’s platform offering and are pleased to offer CQG Desktop as our front-end trading provider,” adds ErisX’s Chippas. “We are working with a robust group of leading class technology and service providers to improve the digital asset trading experience.”