Approximately one-in-five financial institutions surveyed by Thomson Reuters are considering introducing crypto trading desks within the next twelve months.
The survey was conducted among 400+ clients across all of Thomson Reuters trading platforms including Eikon, REDI, and its FX systems.
Among those who indicated they would trade cryptocurrencies in 2018, approximately 70% said they were planning to do so over the next 3-6 months with an additional 22% intending to wade in over the next 6-12 months.
The release of the data comes just a day after Goldman Sachs hired Justin Schmidt as head of digital asset markets to help clients gain exposure to cryptocurrencies.
Neill Penney, co-head of trading, Thomson Reuters, says: “Cryptocurrency is still a relatively small part of the trading market, but this survey makes clear this niche segment is starting to enter the mainstream of the financial services industry. This is a major change from a year ago.”
Thomson Reuters currently provides prices for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies over Eikon and recently launched a sentiment data feed for Bitcoin and other crypto asset classes.
Penny says the vendor intends to introduce further capabilities in the crypto market throughout 2018.
“The most important thing for our clients is seamless access to news and data around cryptocurrencies to facilitate informed trading decisions," he says. "As a leading provider of news, data, and trading capabilities, Thomson Reuters is well-positioned to deliver solutions that meet client demand in the growing cryptocurrency market.”