EDX Markets to Add Verified Bitcoin to Institutional Spot Trading

EDX Markets will add Verified Bitcoin (vBTC) to its institutional spot-trading venue under an agreement with VerifiedX announced Oct. 8, expanding access to a programmable token backed one-to-one by Bitcoin (BTC).

EDX, a Chicago-based digital asset venue for institutional participants, will also join the VerifiedX network as a validator. That role gives EDX direct participation in network validation and governance while connecting its trading infrastructure with the technology supporting vBTC.

VerifiedX operates a layer-two protocol for Bitcoin and other crypto assets. vBTC is designed to let Bitcoin capital move between institutional markets and programmable environments, supporting applications such as trading, payments, treasury management, borrowing and lending.

The arrangement is expected to support trading and liquidity strategies across Bitcoin (BTC) and vBTC markets. It is also intended to allow capital to move between trading venues and on-chain applications while maintaining a direct redemption path to the underlying Bitcoin.

For supported Ethereum Virtual Machine environments, vBTC.b will serve as the asset’s representation. That version is designed to connect Bitcoin capital with decentralized finance applications while preserving the direct redemption path to Bitcoin.

“Bitcoin has become a globally recognized institutional asset, yet much of its financial utility remains fragmented across exchanges, custodians, wrappers, bridges and application-layer protocols,” said Jay Pollak, Head of Strategy at the VerifiedX Foundation.

Pollak said the EDX agreement connects programmable Bitcoin capital with infrastructure built for institutional participants. He added that EDX’s validator role extends the relationship beyond trading by linking the exchange’s infrastructure to the network beneath the asset.

The partnership will introduce vBTC for institutional spot trading on EDX.