SBI Holdings Backs EDX Markets With $76 Million, Fuels OCC Trust Charter Bid
EDX Markets closed a $76 million Series C funding round led by SBI Holdings, the Chicago-based crypto exchange operator announced Tuesday.
Key Takeaways
- EDX Markets closed a $76 million Series C led by SBI Holdings on July 7, 2026.
- SBI Holdings, fresh off its JPYSC stablecoin launch, backs EDX Markets’ 2026 funding round.
- EDX Markets’ OCC bid for a trust charter, EDX Trust, remains pending as of July 2026.
The latest round adds a major Japanese financial backer to EDX’s cap table as the firm pushes deeper into institutional digital asset infrastructure. EDX operates an institution-only trading venue paired with a central clearinghouse, a model built to mirror the risk controls and settlement standards found in traditional markets.
Money from the raise will go toward expanding EDX’s trading, clearing, and settlement operations. The firm also plans to speed up product development and grow its footprint outside the United States.
CEO Tony Acuna-Rohter said SBI brings experience serving global financial institutions and a track record of scaling businesses in the sector. He called the partnership a fit for EDX’s push to give institutions confident, large-scale access to digital assets.
What SBI Brings to the Table
SBI Holdings has spent the past year building out its own digital asset lineup. The firm recently launched JPYSC, described as Japan’s first trust bank-backed yen stablecoin. SBI also handles U.S. dollar stablecoins RLUSD and USDC domestically in Japan.
Yoshitaka Kitao, SBI’s chairman and president, stated that EDX’s platform addresses growing institutional demand for regulated market infrastructure. He pointed to JPYSC and SBI’s stablecoin distribution work as part of a broader ecosystem the EDX investment will now plug into.
Kitao added that SBI expects the partnership to accelerate innovation and expand market access for digital assets on a global scale. “We believe trusted market infrastructure will serve as a critical foundation for institutional adoption,” Kitao remarked.
A Bank Charter in the Works
The funding lands as EDX pursues a national trust bank charter. The firm filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish EDX Trust, which would offer regulated custody, clearing, settlement, and risk management services if approved.
EDX also rolled out EDX Flowconnect earlier this year, a crypto-as-a-service product that lets firms launch their own digital asset trading offerings for customers.
Why it Matters
Institutional plumbing rarely makes headlines the way price swings do, but it shapes how much capital can move into crypto markets and how fast. A regulated clearinghouse backed by a firm like SBI gives banks and asset managers another entry point that looks more like the infrastructure they already trust.
SBI’s involvement also ties EDX to Japan’s stablecoin market at a moment when yen-backed and dollar-backed stablecoins are both expanding under regulatory frameworks. That connection could matter for traders watching cross-border stablecoin flows and institutional adoption trends heading into the back half of 2026.
EDX has not disclosed its post-money valuation following the round.
Backing Beyond SBI
EDX already counted some of the largest trading and venture capital firms among its backers before SBI joined the round. Its founding backers include industry giants such as Citadel Securities, Fidelity Digital Assets, Charles Schwab Corporation, Virtu Financial, Sequoia Capital, and Paradigm.
The company has built its business around minimizing counterparty risk for members while offering the kind of capital efficiencies large trading firms look for when choosing where to route order flow.
The firm says it is still expanding its geographic reach and adding features on top of its existing platform, positioning EDX Markets as its flagship venue for institutions seeking deep liquidity and firm pricing.
What to Watch Next
A few developments will show whether this funding round translates into real market share:
- Whether the OCC approves EDX Trust and on what timeline
- How quickly EDX Flowconnect gains adoption among firms building customer-facing crypto products
- Whether SBI’s yen stablecoin ecosystem creates new volume for EDX beyond the U.S. market
None of those outcomes are guaranteed. Bank charter applications can take months or years to clear regulatory review, and crypto-as-a-service products depend on client firms actually building and launching on top of them.
Still, the size of the round and the identity of its lead investor signal that institutional interest in regulated crypto market infrastructure has not slowed down. SBI is a major financial group with its own regulatory relationships in Japan, and its willingness to put $76 million behind EDX suggests it sees a longer runway for institutional crypto adoption ahead.
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