Hong Kong's Atom is first to use LSE tech for crypto exchange

Published Wed, Jan 23, 2019 · 12:56 AM

[HONG KONG] Atom Group will use trading technology from the London Stock Exchange Group Plc (LSEG) to power its new cryptocurrency exchange, as Hong Kong tightens oversight of digital assets.

Hong Kong-based Atom's AAX exchange is set to debut by end-June and will be built on the London Stock Exchange's (LSE) Millennium Exchange matching engine, Atom said in a statement Tuesday. It didn't disclose terms. The software is also used by bourses in Hong Kong and Singapore, it said.

The deal follows new rules from Hong Kong's securities regulator, which in November said it may regulate digital-asset exchanges. The moves come as institutional investors begin to invest in the asset class, with some betting that virtual currencies and their underlying blockchain technology will find commercial uses, despite the recent collapse in crypto prices.

"Investors are demanding greater safeguards and Atom will be able to leverage the mainstream functionality that already exists," Lorne Chambers, global head of sales and marketing for LSEG Technology, said in an interview. LSE is a technology partner with Atom and doesn't hold any stake in the company, he said.

AAX has a transitional license with Malta and is also finalising a license in Estonia, Peter Lin, Atom's chief executive officer, said in an interview. For now, the exchange is focusing on trading of high-liquidity cryptocurrencies as well as spot and futures markets, and plans to eventually offer trading of other assets such as securitised tokens, and fiat-crypto trading services, dependent on licensing, he said.

Mr Lin co-founded Atom in 2018 and has about 50 staff. He'd previously created Cinera, a startup that developed a virtual reality home theatre system, according to a company biography.

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