Virtu Financial Joins BitGo Prime Network as Institutional Crypto Liquidity Moves to Regulated Venues

Virtu Financial has joined the BitGo Prime global liquidity network, integrating a major traditional market maker into BitGo's institutional digital asset trading platform. The partnership was announced in a joint press release dated July 15, 2026.

A key feature of the arrangement is the separation of custody and execution, functions typically combined on centralized crypto exchanges. BitGo will provide qualified custody and settlement services, while Virtu will supply liquidity and pricing. This allows assets to remain securely held while trade execution is routed through a separate liquidity network.

Scotte Moegling, Virtu's head of digital assets business development, stated the partnership enables the firm to offer institutional clients "the competitive pricing they have come to expect across other asset classes," according to the release.

The move is underpinned by significant regulatory standing. Virtu Financial Ireland holds a MiCA license, granting it passporting rights to provide services across the EU's 27 member states, disclosed publicly on June 2, 2026. BitGo Europe has held a MiCAR custody and settlement license from German regulator BaFin since May 2025.

This trend is not isolated. Standard Chartered is separately planning to launch a crypto prime brokerage service through its SC Ventures unit, according to Bloomberg sources. The bank, which already backs Zodia Custody and Zodia Markets, became the first global systemically important bank to offer spot crypto trading to institutions in July.

The pattern indicates that infrastructure for institutional crypto is increasingly being built by firms with established regulatory standing in traditional markets, rather than by crypto-native platforms alone.

Concurrently with the partnership news, Virtu disclosed preliminary Q2 2026 results, expecting net income of $285 million and adjusted net trading income of $718 million, equating to approximately $11.6 million per trading day.