EDX Markets Raises $76M in Series C Round with SBI Holdings Taking the Lead

Japan's SBI Holdings just wrote a significant check to a U.S. crypto exchange built entirely for banks and asset managers. EDX Markets closed a $76 million Series C round, with the Tokyo-listed financial group leading the deal and taking on a strategic investor role. That's not a typical venture bet. SBI runs SBI Shinsei Bank and SBI Securities, and has been quietly assembling its own digital asset stack for years.

EDX Markets isn't a retail platform. It operates an institutional-only spot trading venue paired with its own central clearinghouse, which settles trades daily and cuts down the counterparty risk that normally piles up when large institutions trade bilaterally. That clearinghouse model is the part that tends to get overlooked, but it's exactly what big financial players want before they'll move serious volume into crypto.

Where the money goes

CEO Tony Acuña-Rohter said SBI's capital will go toward expanding trading, clearing and settlement infrastructure, plus product development and international operations. Earlier this year EDX already launched FlowConnect, a crypto-as-a-service product that lets other firms build digital asset trading capabilities on top of EDX's rails. The company also filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to charter EDX Trust, a proposed national trust bank for custody and settlement.

Two big regulatory moves, a new product line, and now a $76 million raise. The pace is deliberate.

SBI's own digital asset bet

For SBI Holdings, the investment fits a broader pattern. The group recently launched JPYSC, described as Japan's first trust bank-backed yen stablecoin, and has begun handling U.S. dollar stablecoins domestically, including Ripple's RLUSD and Circle's USDC. Chairman and president Yoshitaka Kitao said in the announcement that trusted market infrastructure is a "critical foundation" for institutional adoption, and EDX is clearly where SBI is placing that bet in the U.S. market.

Founded in 1999, SBI has spent decades building financial services in Japan. Backing an American institutional crypto exchange with a clearinghouse and an OCC application on the table is a logical next step for a firm that's already deep in stablecoins at home.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.