According to a statement released by LCH, the clearinghouse arm of the London Stock Exchange Group, it will provide clearing services for cash-settled Bitcoin index futures and options.
LCH stated that LCH DigitalAssetClear, the company’s French division, will finalize trades made on the UK-licensed GFO-X digital asset exchange.
Head of LCH DigitalAssetClear Frank Soussan stated that Bitcoin index futures and options are quickly becoming more common due to demand. According to Soussan, institutional market participants are especially becoming more interested in gaining access to a regulated environment that they are familiar with.
Clearinghouses provide a centralized platform for executing trades that have been agreed upon on an exchange. They have been favored by regulators since the 2008 financial crisis as a strategy to reduce the risk of distinct bilateral deals among participants.
This is the latest move by traditional financial players to enter into the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency market.