GDAX, the cryptocurrency exchange run by startup Coinbase, has partnered with trading software provider Trading Technologies.

The integration allows those using TT’s platform to access spot bitcoin trading alongside futures for the cryptocurrency, the two firms announced Thursday.

Trading Technologies CEO Rick Lane also announced efforts to develop “asset-class-specific functionality on the TT platform for cryptocurrency trading”. Lane attributed the decision to partner with Coinbase to demand from the institutional trading community.

Customers will have access to market data, charts and automated trading tools with which to submit orders and trade cryptocurrencies on GDAX. It will also enable spread trades, in which two assets are bought and sold concurrently.

GDAX General Manager Adam White commented:

“The offering is timed perfectly, just as futures on Bitcoin are taking form. TT provides one of the most powerful and ubiquitous tools to today’s futures trader. This, paired with GDAX’s crypto-spot market liquidity, will provide thousands of institutional investors a seamless and secure way to trade digital assets”

Trading Technologies boasts access to 45 markets worldwide including Deutsche Boerse, Intercontinental Exchange and Nasdaq, as well as CME group and Cboe Global Markets Inc., which both started bitcoin futures trading late last year.

Handshake image via Shutterstock

Disclosure: CoinDesk is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which has an ownership stake in Coinbase. CME Group is an investor in Digital Currency Group.