GCEX, a digital prime brokerage, has launched options on Bitcoin and Ethereum for eligible professional and institutional clients.
The service is provided by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)-regulated GC Exchange, giving hedge funds, asset managers, family offices, and other firms that meet the client criteria access to calls and puts booked through GCEX’s OTC desk.
According to GCEX, quotes are requested directly from the OTC desk, with pricing sourced from its Tier-1 liquidity providers, and positions, expiries, valuations, and settlements are reported on the firm’s centralised digital management dashboard, XplorPortal, alongside a client’s existing digital asset and FX activity.
At launch, the desk offers European-style, fiat-settled options with monthly expiries, which can be used to hedge existing digital asset exposure, sell options against held assets, or take positions where a buyer’s maximum loss is the premium paid, while sellers can incur losses greater than the premium they receive, the firm says.
Commenting on the launch, founder and CEO of GCEX Lars Holst says: “Our institutional clients have been asking for a regulated way to hedge and manage their digital asset exposure without onboarding to an exchange.
“Options booked through our OTC desk give them that, with the same regulated counterparty, onboarding and reporting they already use for digital asset spot and FX.”
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