Electronic trading houses Citadel Securities and XTX Markets have signed up to use blockchain currency settlement tool Cobalt. The solution utilises distributed ledger technology to reduce post-trade costs in currency trading and to speed up transaction settlements. The founders of Cobalt estimate it could save market-makers like XTX and Citadel up to 80% on post-trade spending. “Blockchains are the future for financial services,” said David Johnson, CEO at XTX.
Electronic trading houses Citadel Securities and XTX Markets have signed up to use blockchain currency settlement tool Cobalt. The solution utilises distributed ledger technology to reduce post-trade costs in currency trading and to speed up transaction settlements. The founders of Cobalt estimate it could save market-makers like XTX and Citadel up to 80% on post-trade spending. The two firms join banks including Citigroup and UBS in testing the system, which executives have said will be rolled out for spot trading in Q3, making it one of the first market applications of the technology behind bitcoin.