Flow Traders, the Amsterdam-headquartered global trading firm, has launched an OTC platform offering 24/7 two-way proprietary liquidity for tokenised money-market funds, equities and commodities. The offering, delivered through the firm’s Digital Asset OTC platform, covers assets including Franklin Templeton’s BENJI tokenised money-market fund and Tether Gold (XAUT), with institutional counterparties able to access liquidity via FIX connectivity, OMS/EMS platforms, ECNs or voice OTC workflows.
The launch positions Flow Traders at the intersection of two converging trends: growing institutional demand for out-of-hours equity and commodity risk management, and the gradual migration of traditional execution infrastructure into tokenised markets. For institutional desks already connected via FIX or OMS/EMS, the firm says no additional buildout is required to access 24/7 tokenised liquidity through the same channels they use for conventional markets.“Institutional counterparties can access 24/7 liquidity using familiar execution channels, including FIX connectivity, OMS/EMS integration, ECNs, and voice OTC workflows,” Michael Lie, Global Head of Digital Assets at Flow Traders, tells TradingTech Insight. “For counterparties that are already connected, no additional buildout is typically required, as the same infrastructure can be extended to support tokenised markets and 24/7 trading.”
The strategic case rests on Flow Traders’ argument that pricing and risk management when underlying reference markets are closed is a problem the firm has been solving in ETF market-making for over two decades. And that tokenised markets represent a natural extension of that capability.
“It’s our traditional market-making experience, particularly in products like ETFs where pricing and risk management often continue outside the primary market hours of the underlying assets,” says Lie. “We are used to quoting and managing exposure when reference markets are closed, using proxy instruments, correlations, and real-time market signals to maintain continuous pricing. As markets move toward a 24/7 model, this becomes directly relevant, since risk does not reset overnight, and pricing needs to remain consistent across time zones and market closures.”Early-stage but directionally significant
Flow Traders CEO Thomas Spitz noted in the firm’s announcement that tokenised and synthetic equity derivatives activity in some large-cap US stocks has at times reached around 2–3% of the notional trading volume of their primary US listings. Lie clarifies that this represents peak activity rather than a sustained average, and that the majority of current volume is driven by synthetic instruments providing price exposure, with tokenised spot equity smaller but gradually increasing as infrastructure and liquidity develop.
The distinction matters. Synthetic derivatives offering price exposure to underlying equities operate within a different market structure and regulatory framework from tokenised representations of the equities themselves. For the institutional trading infrastructure audience, the question is how quickly the tokenised spot equity component scales relative to the synthetic activity that currently dominates.
Settlement: on-chain transfer versus underlying exposure
On settlement mechanics, Lie draws an important distinction between on-chain transfer and the settlement of the underlying exposure. Trades are settled through bilateral OTC workflows with defined settlement windows agreed with each counterparty, following delivery-versus-payment (DvP) principles to reduce principal risk. Where both legs of a trade are on-chain, settlement can be near-instant.
“Tokenised equities introduce an additional layer where underlying asset management may still rely on traditional infrastructure, meaning there is a distinction between on-chain transfer and the settlement of the underlying exposure,” Lie explains. “In the absence of a CCP, counterparty risk is managed through a combination of permissioned access, onboarding, predefined settlement terms, and, where appropriate, prefunding, consistent with institutional OTC market practice.”
The acknowledgement that no central counterparty exists for these instruments, and that counterparty risk management relies on bilateral arrangements, places the offering squarely within established OTC market practice rather than presenting a fundamentally new clearing model.
Regulatory framework still in active development
Flow Traders is routing its offering through different group entities depending on jurisdiction and regulatory status, with operations spanning the US, Europe and Asia. Lie confirms the firm is working with partners including Dinari, a tokenised securities platform focused on regulatory compliance for real-world asset tokens, and is monitoring developments including the SEC’s recently announced token taxonomy.
“The SEC’s recently announced token taxonomy is a great example of the regulation of this nascent asset class still being in active development and something we’ll continue to monitor to ensure compliance across our global operations,” notes Lie.
Competitive positioning in a crowded landscape
Flow Traders enters a digital asset OTC market where several established players are already active. Wintermute, the London-based algorithmic trading firm, launched institutional OTC trading for tokenised gold – including the same Tether Gold product – in February 2026, and its CEO Evgeny Gaevoy has projected the tokenised gold market could reach $15 billion this year. Cumberland, the crypto trading arm of DRW, has gone further into tokenised settlement infrastructure, participating in the Canton Network’s first cross-border intraday repo using tokenised UK government bonds alongside LSEG, Euroclear, DTCC and Citadel Securities. Galaxy Digital operates a broader institutional platform spanning OTC trading, derivatives, lending and asset management, with over 1,600 institutional trading counterparties.
Flow Traders’ differentiation argument centres on its ETF heritage. Where crypto-native firms have built outward from digital asset markets into traditional finance infrastructure, Flow Traders is extending inward from two decades of pricing complex products when reference markets are closed.
ETF trajectory as a roadmap for tokenised assets
Looking ahead, Lie draws an explicit parallel with the ETF market’s evolution from simple index and commodity products to more complex multi-asset and leveraged strategies, a trajectory he expects tokenised assets to follow.
“We’re particularly interested to see how tokenisation evolves and anticipate that equities and commodities are just the first types of assets tied to these vehicles, similar to ETFs,” he says. “Over time, we would expect to expand across asset classes wherever there is a clear need for institutional liquidity.”
The open questions for the market remain around settlement mechanics for tokenised equities where the underlying still relies on traditional infrastructure, regulatory clarity across jurisdictions, and whether the currently synthetic-dominated volume translates into sustained tokenised spot equity activity. For institutional trading desks, the more immediate signal may be the execution infrastructure convergence: the ability to access 24/7 tokenised markets through existing FIX and OMS/EMS connections, without rebuilding their technology stack.
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