By Anthony Mazzarese, Co-Founder & CCO
It has been a whirlwind few months since the official launch of CROSSx, our first-of-its-kind execution-only crypto trading venue. We’ve received tons of inquiries, met interesting people and firms and won business from around the world, all while continuing to build our team and plan for growth and expansion.
Today, we are in a better position than ever to make good on those global ambitions. I’m pleased to say that I recently moved to the UK to lead our London office. We’ve already made significant progress on building out our team here, with employees specializing in technology, business development and operations. Now, adding a co-founder to the mix will solidify our presence in this market.
Why London? First, it’s an incredible talent hub. We don’t just want to build the industry’s leading institution-only crypto ECN – we want to build the best team in crypto, with a particular focus on hiring forward-thinking developers and top-notch support professionals. Being in London gives us easy access to a large pool of these individuals. In addition, we’ve built out our production servers in London’s LD4 data center, making us a natural fit for systematic trading firms throughout Europe, and we wanted to offer an on-the-ground presence to match.
But most importantly, it’s about serving our clients as comprehensively as possible. We’ve always envisioned ourselves as an international business, and we’re fielding interest from every corner of the globe. While crypto has made its impact felt around the world, there are some countries and regions that remain underserved, particularly those that have significant language barriers. We’ve determined that London is the ideal location for meeting the needs of this large, diverse audience – it gives us more proximity to not just Europe, but Asia and Africa as well.
Some of our recent travels have crystallized my decision to make this move. In particular, our executive team made a trip to Zug, a Swiss town located approximately 15 miles outside of Zurich, which has become known as Europe’s “Crypto Valley.” It’s home to many of the industry’s leading crypto market participants and service providers. We spent our time learning about the local market, holding productive meetings and hearing about innovative products and strategies – yet we only scratched the surface of the opportunities Zug has to offer. Amsterdam is another hotbed of crypto innovation that has become a key priority for us.
In fact, versions of this story can and will be found across Europe, where many locales have prioritized implementing clearly defined market structure, creating thriving institutional communities. The Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) – the EU’s new framework for crypto and digital assets – represents a big step in this direction, offering highly targeted licenses to crypto service providers and stablecoin issuers. We believe that this forward-thinking stance will fuel widespread adoption and a more functional ecosystem for all stakeholders. Having a co-founder in London gives us the ability to freely visit these institutions and meet their needs in a way that wouldn’t have been as practical otherwise.
Along those lines, we’re excited to continue contributing to conversations around the future of this industry, both on the ground in Europe and elsewhere. For example, many regulators have lumped together crypto exchanges and brokers under a single regulatory framework, meaning that exchanges must abide by rules around handling client money, KYC/AML, etc. Others, like the FCA, account for the distinctions between these two kinds of services. We at Crossover have decoupled crypto execution from custody and brokerage – and we believe this model represents the future of the industry – so we are particularly attuned to these definitions and categories, and how they manifest in policymaking. We stand ready to lend our voice to these ongoing debates.
At the same time, our work continues. We are growing and hiring quickly, eager to strengthen our already deep bench with talented, passionate industry professionals. And we’re continuing our global push, with the Asia-Pacific region representing our next focus area. We truly believe that our unique business model, technology and liquidity will transform crypto, and we’re working tirelessly to achieve that vision.
Want to learn more or keep up with our progress? Drop us a line.
