Crypto custody company Anchorage now offers a crypto brokerage service, acquiring Merkle Data to further the service.

Anchorage has introduced an institutional crypto trading service called Anchorage Trading, a representative from Anchorage confirmed to Cointelegraph on Jan. 15. “Multiple existing clients are using the service, and we've already had a flood of new interest since this morning's announcement,” he added.

In an email to Cointelegraph, Anchorage co-founder and CEO Nathan McCauley explained:

"We're starting with 5-10 of the most in-demand assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as a range of stablecoins like TUSD and USDC. We'll be adding more assets continuously going forward, and evaluating customer requests as they arise."

Enhancing the trading service, Anchorage has also acquired institutional-grade risk management and analytics software company Merkle Data, McCauley said in a Jan. 15 post on Anchorage’s blog.

Institutional crypto trading

Anchorage’s new offering allows institutional players to trade crypto assets via traders Anchorage employs, the post said.

This new offering also takes advantage of Anchorage’s crypto custody services. Customers can house various crypto assets with Anchorage and then trade those assets through the brokerage, without needing to transfer their funds to a third party location, the post added.

As quoted in Anchorage's post, Blockchain Capital co-founder and managing partner Bart Stephens said:

“Trading directly from custody has been a critical need of institutional crypto investors for years. Anchorage gives us a level of safety, trust, and ease of use that streamlines the current brokerage/custody workflow.”

Merkle Data Support

Anchorage’s acquisition of Merkle Data will add several aspects to the brokerage, including risk modeling and quantitative analysis, the post said, quoting Merkle’s CEO Louis Baudoin as saying:

“For the past 18 months, Merkle Data has been building the most advanced risk and data solution on the market, while Anchorage has built the most advanced and user-friendly custody solution.”

Cointelegraph also reported on Anchorage in May 2019, when the company announced insurance coverage.

UPDATE Jan. 16, 20:58 UTC: This article has been updated with comments Cointelegraph received from Anchorage after initial publication.