Crypto Custodian BitGo Joins Race to Provide Prime Brokerage Services

Crypto custodian BitGo is moving into the prime brokerage space, announcing a fully integrated suite of services Wednesday to serve institutional traders.

The services will be offered by BitGo Prime, a new entity that will be headed by Nick Carmi, BitGo's head of financial services.

BitGo Prime has already launched crypto lending services, and plans to expand these as well as build liquidity on its platform this year.

BitGo CEO Mike Belshe told CoinDesk said building a prime brokerage in the crypto space is a difficult undertaking, at least in part because the overall infrastructure is still relatively young.

In his view, a true prime brokerage begins with regulated custody, followed by lending and borrowing services.

BitGo Prime offers trading on a fully non-disclosed basis, he said, meaning that while BitGo knows who its clients are through its know-your-customer/anti-money laundering measures, the outside world is not privy to which companies are conducting a given trade.

Carmi said the services are targeted to institutional investors already familiar with the prime brokerage model.

The current phase of BitGo Prime's rollout enables trading, and the new entity is looking to aggregate pricing from "Multiple reputable counterparties, market makers and exchanges."

JPMorgan banking exchanges Gemini and Coinbase are another positive sign for the industry, and BitGo itself has heard from investment banks recently, he said.

BitGo isn't the only company sensing this interest: Genesis Trading, Bequant and Coinbase all recently announced their own intentions to offer prime brokerage services.