Share this article
Bequant Launches Crypto Prime Brokerage to Compete for Institutional Money
London-based Bequant becomes one of only a few companies in crypto to offer a full range of prime brokerage services for hedge funds.
Updated May 9, 2023, 3:08 a.m. Published May 14, 2020, 5:15 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
Digital asset services firm Bequant launched a prime brokerage service for institutional clients to have easier access to liquidity, custody, lending and other products, the company announced Thursday.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
With several services and pools of liquidity under one roof, Bequant is able to help institutional clients trade and expand their portfolios while keeping transaction costs low. Additional services include collateral management tools, smart order routing, leveraged trade execution and over-the-counter (OTC) block trading.
“We are tailored to a lot of quant [hedge funds] and our clients typically look at trading through automated strategies, arbitrage, you name it,” Bequant CEO George Zarya said. “What they require is … one account to access liquidity pools, manage collateral and gain access to lending.”
Read more: New York Grants Its 18th BitLicense to Crypto ‘Prime Broker’ Tagomi
In traditional finance, prime brokerage refers to a bundle of specialized services offered by investment banks and securities dealers to their hedge fund clients. There are few prime brokers in the crypto space, but Bequant’s largest competitor is Tagomi, a New York-based prime broker that became the 22nd member of Facebook’s Libra Association earlier this year.
Crypto exchanges such as Gibraltar-based Huobi offer their own brokerage services as an additional service for institutional investors, but it’s still rare to find companies that offer a full range of prime brokerage tools.
Bequant provides access to spot trading at exchanges and over-the-counter (OTC) desks. The London-based firm plans to offer access to derivative liquidity pools in the future, Zarya said.
Read more: Huobi Opens Brokerage Platform for Institutional Investors
Bequant is connected to 18 different sources of liquidity including seven crypto exchanges, and plans to have 30 by the end of 2020, he added. (The process of onboarding a new liquidity provider – exchanging APIs and sharing commission schedules – takes around two to six months.)
“It’s important to know that centralized servicing is really important for the institutional players,” said Alex Mascioli, head of institutional services at Bequant. “We’re becoming a one-stop shop for these places to consolidate a fragmented market right now.”
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
How the ultra-wealthy are using bitcoin to fund their yacht upgrades and Cannes trips
Cometh founder Jerome de Tychey is applying DeFi lending and borrowing on platforms like Aave, Morpho, and Uniswap to structures that help the ultra-wealthy secure loans against their massive crypto fortunes.
What to know:
- Wealthy investors who hold much of their fortune in crypto are increasingly turning to decentralized finance platforms to secure flexible credit lines without selling their digital assets.
- Firms like Cometh help family offices and other rich clients navigate complex DeFi tools, using assets such as bitcoin, ether and stablecoins to replicate traditional Lombard-style collateralized loans.
- DeFi loans can be faster and more anonymous than traditional bank credit but carry volatility and liquidation risks, and Cometh is also experimenting with applying DeFi strategies to traditional securities via ISIN-based tokenization.
Top Stories
