The LSE Directory / Crypto exchanges
Zodia Markets is a London-headquartered institutional digital asset brokerage and exchange. It provides OTC block trading (voice and electronic) and an exchange venue for spot cryptocurrency execution, supporting more than 70 digital assets and over 20 fiat currencies, alongside on and off ramp and multi-local settlement services that let institutional clients move between fiat and crypto without routing capital offshore. The firm serves institutional clients only, hedge funds, asset managers, corporates and other professional market participants, rather than retail traders, and differentiates on regulatory footprint and bank-grade operational controls rather than asset breadth alone. It holds registrations with the UK Financial Conduct Authority (firm reference 954558), the Jersey Financial Services Commission as a Virtual Asset Service Provider, the Abu Dhabi Global Market's Financial Services Regulatory Authority, the Central Bank of Ireland, FinCEN in the US and FINTRAC in Canada, a wider multi-jurisdiction spread than many crypto-native competitors. It has also built stablecoin-based payment orchestration and connected to third-party trading infrastructure such as Talos to widen institutional liquidity access. Zodia Markets was founded in 2021 by Usman Ahmad and Nick Philpott and began trading in the UK and EU in July 2022 after receiving FCA authorization. It was set up as a joint venture backed from inception by SC Ventures, Standard Chartered Bank's innovation and ventures arm, and OSL Group, the digital asset arm of Hong Kong-listed BC Technology Group and parent of the SFC-licensed OSL exchange. It shares the "Zodia" brand with, but is a distinct business from, Zodia Custody, a separate digital asset custody venture Standard Chartered launched with Northern Trust roughly a year earlier; Markets handles brokerage and exchange execution while Custody handles asset safeguarding. In July 2025 Zodia Markets raised an $18.25 million Series A round led by Pharsalus Capital, with participation from Circle Ventures, The Operating Group, XVC Tech, Token Bay Capital and Human Capital, earmarked for geographic expansion and stablecoin payment products. The firm has continued expanding its regulatory footprint, adding an Ireland entity in 2023, Jersey authorization in July 2024 and Abu Dhabi Global Market permission in December 2024, and in April 2026 it went live on the Talos institutional trading network to broaden liquidity access for clients.
