Daily Crypto Briefs 
CHICAGO, July 8, 2026
EDX Markets said it closed a $76 million Series C funding round led by SBI Holdings, giving the Wall Street-backed institutional crypto venue new capital as bitcoin traded near $62,265 and market sentiment remained in Extreme Fear.
The deal puts SBI behind a U.S.-based trading and clearing platform that was built for institutions rather than retail users. EDX said the money will support trading, clearing, settlement, product development and global operations.
Market data showed a cautious backdrop for the raise. CoinGecko showed bitcoin near $62,265 on July 8, down about 1.3% over 24 hours, with a market value near $1.25 trillion and 24-hour volume around $30.8 billion. Ether traded near $1,739, down about 1.9%, according to market data reviewed for this article.
Bitcoin
BTCEDX said SBI brings financial-institution expertise and a large digital-asset ecosystem. Chief Executive Tony Acuna-Rohter said the investment strengthens EDX’s ability to deliver market access that institutions need to engage with digital assets “confidently and at scale.”
The timing connects two separate trends. SBI has been building a larger crypto footprint in Japan, including the Bitbank transaction Daily Crypto Briefs covered in SBI’s $289 million exchange acquisition. EDX, meanwhile, is trying to formalize U.S. institutional crypto plumbing through separated trading, clearing and custody.
The immediate read is not a retail exchange land grab. It is a funding round for market structure: who holds assets, who matches trades, who clears obligations and whether large banks can plug into crypto without using the same vertically integrated model that dominated offshore exchanges.
What remains undisclosed is the valuation, exact ownership stake, product timetable and whether the funding changes EDX’s pending bank-charter application. Those details will determine whether the round becomes a balance-sheet headline or a visible expansion in institutional crypto access.
SBI Funds EDX’s Institutional Crypto Stack
EDX describes itself as a digital asset technology firm that combines an institution-only trading venue with a central clearinghouse. Its model is designed to separate trading from custody and settlement, closer to traditional equities and derivatives markets than to an all-in-one retail crypto exchange.
That structure is the core of the investment story. Institutions care about counterparty risk, capital efficiency, settlement certainty, compliance controls and whether customer assets sit inside a structure they can explain to auditors and regulators.
EDX said the new capital will help it expand trading, clearing and settlement capabilities while accelerating product development. The company has also launched EDX FlowConnect, a crypto-as-a-service product intended to help firms offer digital asset trading products to customers.
The Block reported in an article reposted by EDX that SBI was the sole investor in the round and that EDX declined to disclose valuation or round terms. That means readers should treat the $76 million number as confirmed, but not infer a public mark for the company.
The institutional pitch predates this round. In a 2024 update, EDX said it had matched more than $36 billion in notional volume since January 2024 and handled more than $685 million in a 24-hour period, according to an EDX record-volume announcement.
EDX Trust Keeps The OCC In Focus
The funding lands while EDX is seeking a federal trust-bank path. EDX said earlier this year that it filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish EDX Trust, a proposed national trust bank for custody, clearing, settlement and risk management services.
The OCC’s digital assets licensing table lists EDX Trust, N.A. with a March 26, 2026 filing date. The tracker did not show an approval at the time this article was prepared.
EDX’s trust-bank application announcement said the proposed bank is meant to address structural risks that come from platforms combining brokerage, exchange and custody functions. In plain terms, EDX is asking regulators to let part of its stack live inside a federally supervised trust entity.
That places EDX in the same policy lane as crypto firms pursuing national trust-bank status. Daily Crypto Briefs recently tracked how Crypto.com won conditional OCC approval for its own federal trust-bank charter, though each application has separate facts, conditions and business plans.
The bank-charter angle also explains why SBI’s participation carries more weight than a typical exchange investment. SBI is not only buying exposure to crypto trading. It is backing a regulated-infrastructure thesis at a time when banks, brokers and asset managers are deciding which rails they can use.
SBI’s Crypto Push Moves Beyond Japan
SBI’s role makes the story larger than one U.S. funding round. The company already has exchange, custody, stablecoin and tokenization ambitions in Japan, and the EDX investment adds a direct connection to U.S. institutional market infrastructure.
EDX’s announcement pointed to SBI Group’s recent JPYSC work, describing it as Japan’s first trust bank-backed yen stablecoin. Japan’s bank-led digital money push is already moving quickly, including the plan by MUFG Bank, Mizuho Bank and SMBC to test yen stablecoin transactions by March 2027.
SBI Chairman and President Yoshitaka Kitao said in the EDX release that trusted market infrastructure will be a critical foundation for institutional adoption as SBI expands initiatives including JPYSC and domestic handling of dollar-denominated stablecoins such as RLUSD and USDC.
The larger pattern is clear: regulated financial groups are not waiting for crypto-native venues to define the next market structure. They are placing capital behind custody, clearing, stablecoin and settlement systems that look more familiar to banks.
Market mood remains fragile despite the institutional funding headline.
Fear & Greed Index
July 8, 2026The next signals are concrete. Watch whether the OCC advances or conditions the EDX Trust application, whether EDX discloses new FlowConnect customers, and whether SBI turns the investment into cross-border stablecoin, custody or trading partnerships. Until then, the $76 million round is best read as a bet on institutional rails, not a sign that crypto risk appetite has fully returned.
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Primary sources and further reading
| Source | Title |
|---|---|
| | EDX Markets: $76 million Series C led by SBI Holdings |
| | EDX Markets: The Block on SBI as sole investor |
| | OCC: Digital assets licensing applications |
| | EDX Markets: OCC trust bank application announcement |
| | EDX Markets: record volume and matching engine update |
| | CoinGecko: Bitcoin price |
| | Alternative.me: Crypto Fear and Greed Index |
Fact-checked by: Daily Crypto Briefs Fact-Check Desk
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Frequently Asked Questions
What did EDX Markets announce?
EDX Markets said it closed a $76 million Series C funding round led by SBI Holdings to expand institutional crypto trading, clearing, settlement, product development and global operations.
Was SBI Holdings the only investor in the EDX round?
The Block reported through an EDX-hosted article that SBI Holdings was the sole investor in the $76 million Series C, while EDX's primary release described the round as led by SBI Holdings.
What is EDX Trust?
EDX Trust is EDX Markets' proposed national trust bank, designed to provide regulated digital asset custody, clearing, settlement and risk management services if the OCC application is approved.
Why does SBI's EDX investment matter?
It links a major Japanese financial group with a U.S.-based institutional crypto venue built around separated trading, clearing and custody rather than a vertically integrated retail exchange model.
Did EDX disclose its valuation?
No. The Block reported that EDX CEO Tony Acuna-Rohter declined to disclose the company's valuation or detailed round terms.