True Global Ventures 4 Plus (TGV4 Plus) Fund has invested US$4 million into GCEX, a technology-agnostic platform, allowing brokers, funds, and other professional traders to access deep liquidity in all the markets they offer.
They are FCA authorised and offer exposure and access to traditional and digital markets. Authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 828730). The truly groundbreaking innovation comes from the integration of all the components, making it more than the sum of its parts.
The main problems for brokers and traders are:
- Rapidly increasing demand from institutions for trading digital assets, but it is almost impossible to find regulated and professional trading solutions that give access to multiple trading venues and exchanges
- The digital asset industry has been fostered without much regulation, causing a surge of “shady” businesses, making it difficult for brokers to find regulated and professional providers.
- Institutional traders want to trade digital assets, but there are no places to go, and brokers want to facilitate trading, but they do not know-how
GCEX provides brokers and institutional traders with an end-to-end and plug-and-play trading platform for digital assets and FX regulated by FCA. They have built a best-in-class platform, making sure their clients do not have to worry about regulation, custody, the safety of funds, liquidity, and tech (both backend and frontend). Brokers just need to ramp up their clients, and institutional traders get a trustworthy broker.
Some main obstacles to institutional adoption, and how GCEX address them are:
- Counterparty risk – GCEX bank with “household names”, a rarity in this space, and with strong regulatory, institutional, and tier 1 connections, are able to provide all FX legs which most brokers have struggled to offer in a meaningful way. including on and off ramping. Traditional finance clients can feel safe in the knowledge that familiar standards and expectations are adhered to – but in a new asset class insured, regulated, and compliant.
- Transparent trading conduct – Unlike some venues, they operate the best execution possible. They also conduct active monitoring, KYT, and anomaly detection on trading for suspicious activity.
- Custody and hacking – They work with several advanced custody solutions, to make sure they reduce friction in handling a new asset class. They are addressing institutional concerns by providing third-party specialists and insured custody.
- Technology integration – via FIX API and other industry standards, GCEX offers a full stack from account management to back-office in a regulated setting that will allow brokers to get more involved in this space without the fears and trepidation of dealing with other unregulated and/or offshore venues.
GCEX was founded in May 2018 by Serial Entrepreneur Lars Holst on the back of a successful USD 120m sale of his former company within the FX space.
Lars Holst shares, “We are currently seeing an influx of institutional money, which indicates that the market is ready to embrace digital assets. The infrastructure has been built. Brokers are looking for solutions, and most institutions want to get started investing in digital assets without having to deal with issues like custody and blockchain directly. It naturally falls into our sweet spot to bridge the gap between institutional investors and cryptocurrency; through our partnerships with traditional FX houses and technology, institutions can gain crypto exposure through a trusted platform. TGV provides us with much-needed capital to continue on our rapid growth trajectory while adhering to regulatory requirements and best practices.”
“We are excited to support one of the fastest-growing companies in this field. This is largely a greenfield market where GCEX can provide a regulated solution within both crypto and FX together. We believe that GCEX is becoming a dominant player,” adds Dusan Stojanovic, Founding Partner of TGV4 Plus Fund.
With the recognition of innovative blockchain use cases, TGV4 Plus continues to invest in talented serial entrepreneurs leading globally ambitious blockchain start-ups. The fund is dedicated to blockchain companies, primarily in late-stage Series B and C across four verticals: Entertainment, infrastructure, financial services, data analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI). Founded by an international group of “super angels”, TGV’s partners are entrepreneurs, business angels, family offices, and institutional investors, many with co-investment rights in future equity rounds.
