Wyden lays out the case for the future of institutional digital asset trading infrastructure

What if digital asset execution infrastructure could generate between $2 million and $5 million in additional annual revenue for a financial services firm? And what if it could simultaneously reduce operational risk and enhance client service? Most financial institutions view execution infrastructure as a necessary cost center that enables trading but doesn't contribute to the bottom line. This perspective is not only outdated, but it leaves a valuable revenue opportunity on the table.

Forward-thinking institutions are discovering that implementing trading infrastructure with multi-venue orchestration doesn't just deliver superior execution, it transforms trading infrastructure into a profit center. Any firm that depends on a brokerage service provider for trading services must pay spreads, absorb outage risks and remain locked into someone else's fee structures. Meanwhile, competitors that have invested in their own trading infrastructure are equipped to capture those spreads, monetize order flow and build competitive advantages that compound with every trade.

According to Wyden, the leading provider of institutional digital asset trading infrastructure for regulated institutions, financial services providers clearly need to invest in their digital asset strategy to remain competitive. Still, investing in a business model that merely executes trades is unlikely to be as optimal as one that generates revenue, mitigates risk and positions operations for future growth opportunities.

Multi-venue orchestration: Turning digital asset trading into revenue

Implementing digital asset trading infrastructure with multi-venue capabilities fundamentally transforms execution from a price taker to a price maker. Multi-venue connectivity also eliminates single points of failure while delivering best execution across all available venues, consistently lowering spread compounds to yield significant cost savings. The advantages, though, extend far beyond execution efficiency.

This strategy enables custom fee structures. Instead of remaining locked into the fee model of a broker-provider setup, a built-in Order and Execution Management System enables the client to design fixed, tiered, spread-based or bundled pricing according to strategic objectives.

At the same time, spread capture opportunities multiply through internal matching capabilities that eliminate external fees entirely. Multi-venue routing captures optimal spreads while the option to implement principal trading creates entirely new revenue streams. Even 0.5 bps per trade can compound into substantial annual revenue for firms processing significant volume.

A firm processing $500 million in monthly trading volume via their own infrastructure could capture 1.5 bps in average spread improvement, generate $50,000 monthly through internal order matching and add $25,000 monthly through compliance, analytics or other premium service offerings. The total impact – $150,000 monthly or $1.8 million annually – represents genuine bottom-line profit.

Single service provider setup: The true cost of dependency

Trading infrastructure is a profit enabler, yet the mathematics of broker dependency are a stark contrast. Up-front costs may seem attractive on the surface, but the initial saving is a façade masking significant long-term risks.

According to regulators, outsourced single service providers to the financial sector are prime targets for cyber incidents, and outages or downtime on the part of a single broker can quickly accumulate costs that rack up to $5 million per hour. Damage from outages can also extend far beyond immediate operational losses. When clients are unable to execute trades reliably, they begin evaluating alternatives and may even share their negative experiences with colleagues and peers.

Even with consistent uptime, though, a single-broker service setup creates other points of vulnerability. Limited venue access consistently delivers inferior execution quality, with higher spreads eroding profitability on every trade. The broker's "black box" approach to execution creates compliance challenges, limiting transparency and consolidated reporting capabilities that modern institutions require. Further, dependency on a single provider may contravene the requirements of regulations – such as the EU's Digital Operational Resilience Act or Swiss FINMA rules – which stipulate that backup systems and redundancies must be in place.

Perhaps most damaging is the operational inflexibility. While infrastructure-equipped competitors add new venues in weeks, broker-dependent firms face 12- to 18-month migration projects when they need to scale or pivot. What may appear to be upfront savings quickly transform into expensive technical debt that balloons with every operational requirement.

Multi-venue orchestration offers future-proof operational excellence

Multi-venue trading infrastructure integrates seamlessly with core banking and custody systems, enabling straight-through processing that reduces operational overhead while improving accuracy. Centralized data management provides full transparency and consolidated reporting, meanwhile, eliminating the compliance challenges inherent in broker "black box" approaches. Multi-venue connectivity enhances resilience, supporting compliance with cybersecurity rules.

The scalability advantages become particularly compelling when considering market evolution. Trading infrastructure provides flexibility to expand into new asset classes – tokenized securities, derivatives, stablecoins – without requiring fundamental system overhauls. Regional expansion becomes possible without dependence on a provider’s limited geographical capabilities. Each expansion represents a direct revenue growth opportunity rather than a costly migration project.

Premium service capabilities emerge naturally from this infrastructure flexibility. Institutional and high-net-worth clients can be offered enhanced compliance reporting, advanced analytics or priority routing services – differentiated offerings that strengthen client relationships while generating additional revenue streams.

OEMS investments today prepare for tomorrow’s opportunities

The competitive landscape continues to evolve. The firms making trading infrastructure investments today are not just preparing for tomorrow's opportunities – they are monetizing advantages that compound daily. Every trade executed through inferior infrastructure, every spread paid away unnecessarily, every client service disruption during broker outages represents competitive ground that becomes increasingly difficult to recover.

The strategic case for digital asset infrastructure investment

Today’s financial institutions require trading infrastructure that delivers resilience, generates revenue and positions operations for future market evolution. Dependency on a single service provider may appear easier and more cost-effective initially, but it ultimately constrains growth, limits profitability and creates expensive technical debt that must eventually be addressed.

Trading infrastructure investment can transform execution from operational overhead into strategic advantage. New advances in digital asset infrastructure can provide multi-venue connectivity to ensure business continuity, enough operational flexibility to enable revenue generation and the scalability needed to support long-term growth objectives.

For institutions serious about competitive positioning and sustainable profitability, taking control of trading activity is not just the superior choice, it might be the only viable path forward. Infrastructure decisions made today will determine tomorrow's competitive position, revenue potential and operational resilience.

Wyden delivers proven, end-to-end trading infrastructure designed for institutions that recognize execution excellence as a strategic imperative. With implementation timelines as short as three months, Wyden provides the platform that transforms execution from cost center to profit engine while positioning operations for the digital asset future.