Leading institutional spot crypto currency exchange LMAX Digital has reported some trading volume metrics for the exchange over the first two years of its operation, including some insight into a very busy Q1-2020 and where average daily volumes now sit.

Overall, the London-based LMAX Digital, part of the LMAX Group, reported that it has traded $85 billion worth of crypto currencies during its first two years of operation.

More recently, LMAX Digital completed $20 billion of transactions during Q1-2020, a very busy and volatile time for markets including the crypto space. Things have settled down somewhat in Q2, with LMAX Digital reporting $250 million of Average Daily Volumes (ADV) for May 2020, translating into a run rate of about $5.5 billion of monthly volume.

LMAX Digital said that it was the first crypto currency exchange to exclusively offer trading to institutional market participants. In just two years since launch, LMAX Digital has become the leading institutional spot exchange for crypto currencies and today works with the largest global institutions trading crypto currencies in the US, Europe and Asia.

During the past 12 months, the exchange said it has experienced tremendous growth with traded volumes increasing 10 times to $75 billion. By commanding a significant share of the spot crypto currency market and trading with all the largest global institutional players, LMAX Digital has cemented its position as the primary price discovery venue in the industry.

David Mercer, CEO of LMAX Group, said:

“We are very pleased with the impressive growth that our institutional digital exchange has enjoyed since day one. Over the past two years, we have expanded our client base to include the largest global proprietary trading firms and some of the world’s largest retail brokers, and more recently have started welcoming regional banks to our platform.”

“In Q1 2020, we saw an increase of 41% in quarterly trading volumes, reaching $20 billion, on the back of our organic growth and broader market volatility. During the periods of recent volatility, we have continued to offer consistent, deep liquidity and robust execution to our clients.”

“We have been impressed by the resilience of crypto currencies, particularly Bitcoin, and note that they have been relatively stable compared to other asset classes which have enjoyed central bank intervention and still shown extreme levels of instability. We see this as an encouraging sign that investors are starting to place more value in digital currencies and have continued to trade through spikes in volatility. All of which bodes well for the gradual maturing of the asset class.”

Jenna Wright, Managing Director of LMAX Digital, added:

“Sophisticated algorithmic traders have been particularly interested in trading digital currencies and have generated profits through both market-making and quantitative alpha strategies. Investors place great value in our market leading institutional grade processing capacity and clearly view us as the primary price discovery venue. We are delighted to see them trading on our exchange in larger numbers and with greater frequency than ever before.”

“The value of our integrated business model, being part of the LMAX Group, has proven to be a strong differentiator for LMAX Digital. Being able to offer FX instruments alongside crypto currencies enables institutional clients to hedge their FX exposure cost effectively and efficiently in an industry where banking is difficult.”

“Today, LMAX Digital serves over 170 clients globally, providing robust, secure trading infrastructure and access to consistent, deep institutional liquidity. LMAX Digital provides its daily volumes and market data through some of the leading institutional analytics platforms and major crypto reference indices.”

David Mercer commented on future plans:

“Given the status of LMAX Digital as the primary price discovery venue for crypto currencies, we are investing in our market data distribution capabilities to enhance the quality of market information available to investors around the world and to provide a credible overview of the digital currency market. In line with this goal, in the near future we are seeking to add our trade and market data to more of the world’s leading market reference indices.”

“Further afield we are looking to expand our product portfolio to continue to meet the needs of our clients as we continue our growth trajectory in line with the growth and maturity of the asset class.”

“I am certain that LMAX Digital will play a large part in the evolution of this industry and will drive further acceptance of crypto currencies as an established asset class by institutional traders. This will oblige large global banks to offer institutional investors traditional banking services and credit, which will in turn add increased liquidity to the market and move crypto currencies into the mainstream.”

LMAX Digital – Last 12 months highlights:

Performance highlights:

• $75 billion traded
• 20 million trades completed
• 125 new institutional clients onboarded
• $250 million Average Daily Volumes (ADV) – as of May 2020
• Monthly record high of $8.6 billion traded in June 2019
• Daily record high of $1.25 billion traded on 27 June 2019.

Growth rates:

• 10x in total traded volumes
• 10x in ADV
• 6x in revenues
• 5x in number of completed trades