SBI Holdings Leads $76M Series C in EDX Markets as OCC Trust Charter Application Awaits Decision

EDX Markets said Tuesday it has completed a $76 million Series C funding round led by Japan's SBI Holdings, adding a major Asian financial partner as the crypto exchange operator expands its institutional market infrastructure. The company runs an institution-only trading venue supported by a central clearinghouse, designed to replicate the risk controls and settlement standards common in traditional financial markets. EDX said the new capital will be used to expand its trading, clearing and settlement capabilities, accelerate product development, and broaden its presence outside the United States. CEO Tony Acuna-Rohter said SBI's experience serving global financial institutions and its history of scaling financial businesses align with EDX's strategy of providing institutions with large-scale, confidence-driven access to digital assets. SBI's investment follows its own push into digital assets. The group recently launched JPYSC, which it describes as Japan's first trust bank-backed yen stablecoin, and it also handles domestic distribution in Japan of U.S. dollar stablecoins RLUSD and USDC. SBI Chairman and President Yoshitaka Kitao said EDX's platform meets rising institutional demand for regulated market infrastructure and positions the investment within a broader stablecoin and digital-asset ecosystem SBI is building. He added that SBI expects the partnership to support innovation and expand global market access for digital assets, noting that trusted infrastructure is foundational for institutional adoption. The fundraising comes as EDX pursues a national trust bank charter in the United States. The company has applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish EDX Trust, which would provide regulated custody, clearing, settlement and risk-management services if approved. As of July 2026, the application remains pending. EDX also introduced EDX Flowconnect earlier this year, a crypto-as-a-service offering that allows firms to launch their own digital-asset trading products for customers. EDX did not disclose its post-money valuation. Before SBI's entry, EDX's backers included Citadel Securities, Fidelity Digital Assets, Charles Schwab Corporation, Virtu Financial, Sequoia Capital and Paradigm. The company has positioned its model around reducing counterparty risk for members while delivering capital efficiency for large trading firms seeking deep liquidity and firm pricing. Key issues to watch include the timing and terms of any OCC approval for EDX Trust, adoption momentum for EDX Flowconnect among firms building customer-facing crypto products, and whether SBI's yen stablecoin ecosystem generates incremental volume for EDX beyond the U.S. market. While regulatory approvals can take months or years and platform adoption depends on client execution, the size of the round and SBI's role as lead investor underscore ongoing institutional interest in regulated crypto market infrastructure heading into the second half of 2026.