ICE Announces Strategic Investment in Prediction Market Platform Polymarket

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) has announced a strategic investment of up to $2 billion in Polymarket, the prediction market and information platform. The investment is based on a pre-investment valuation of approximately $8 billion for Polymarket, which allows users to trade on the probability of events across markets, politics, sport and culture. The consideration will be paid in cash and is not expected to materially impact ICE’s financial results for 2025.

As part of the agreement, ICE will become a global distributor of Polymarket’s event-driven data, providing its customers with sentiment indicators on topics of market relevance. The two companies have also agreed to partner on future tokenisation initiatives.

Founded in 2020 by Shayne Coplan, Polymarket enables users to buy and sell shares of potential outcomes, with trades matched through smart contracts. ICE will provide further details on the investment during its third-quarter earnings call, which is scheduled for 30 October 2025.

Exegy and LDA Technologies Launch Exegy Nexus Appliance for High-Performance Market Data Processing

Exegy, the provider of capital markets technology, has partnered with network solutions specialist LDA Technologies to launch Exegy Nexus, a custom-engineered appliance. The new platform is designed to centralise and scale market data processing, aiming to reduce server count and power consumption for financial firms. It combines FPGA acceleration with embedded Layer 1 switching to deliver high-throughput feed handling and deterministic sub-microsecond latency.

Developed in collaboration with LDA and with input from global banks, brokers, and market makers, the Nexus appliance is built on a new architecture designed by LDA for scalability and efficiency. Its technical features include a high core count AMD Turin platform, support for up to eight FPGA accelerator cards, and embedded Layer 1 Ethernet connectivity for low-latency throughput in a compact 1U or 2U chassis.

The Exegy Nexus appliance is available for order immediately, with production delivery scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2025.

OTCX Partners with BlackRock’s Aladdin to Digitise OTC Derivatives Trading

OTCX, the regulated provider of price discovery and execution for OTC derivatives, has entered a multi-year partnership with BlackRock’s investment management platform, Aladdin. The collaboration aims to digitise the traditionally voice-based negotiation process for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives and expand the electronic trading options available to clients.

By integrating OTCX’s execution venues into the Aladdin platform, the partnership will address the industry’s reliance on manual workflows for complex derivatives. The integration will provide Aladdin clients with a more efficient and transparent method for price discovery, risk management, and trade execution across a broad range of OTC derivatives.

Clients will benefit from end-to-end workflow support, from the initial request-for-market and execution through to post-trade processing. This will provide direct connectivity for a comprehensive set of OTC derivative instruments within the Aladdin ecosystem.

Acuity Knowledge Partners Acquires Technology Firm Ascent to Expand AI and Data Capabilities

Acuity Knowledge Partners, the global provider of research and AI solutions to the financial sector, has completed its acquisition of technology firm Ascent. Operating across seven European countries, Ascent supports over 170 clients with AI-driven digital transformation and will be integrated into Acuity’s Data and Technology Services (DTS) division.

The transaction increases Acuity’s global workforce to over 6,500 and facilitates its expansion into new sectors, including reinsurance, pharma, manufacturing, and retail. The deal also enhances Acuity’s partnership with Microsoft, with the combined firm now holding seven Microsoft Specialisations across four solution areas. All teams from Ascent will be absorbed into Acuity Knowledge Partners.

The acquisition follows Acuity’s recent launch of several new technology solutions. As a result of the deal, clients will have access to an expanded suite of services, including data science, Agentic AI, cloud and infrastructure services, software engineering, and digital product development.

Substantive Research Study Reveals Aggressive Pricing in Private Credit Data Market

Substantive Research has published a new study on market data pricing, expanding its analysis to include vendors in the debt, credit, and leveraged finance sectors. The new coverage reflects the significant growth of private markets, particularly private credit, where assets under management recently surpassed $3 trillion. The study highlights that the illiquid and less transparent nature of these assets has created an urgent need for accurate data from third-party sources as investors seek alpha opportunities.

The findings show increasingly aggressive behaviour from data providers. Consumers are facing renewal increases of between 10% and 40%, even for contracts valued between $100k and $1m. Vendors are also adopting inflexible, “take-it-or-leave-it” stances during negotiations, limiting buyers’ power. While pricing inconsistency is less extreme than in other data areas like ratings and terminals, the study found that comparable firms can still pay up to 20% more for the same products and use cases from the same vendor.

Keysight Technologies Makes Strategic Investment in InstrumentiX to Advance Trading Monitoring Solutions

InstrumentiX, the trading infrastructure monitoring and analytics provider, has announced a strategic investment from Keysight Technologies, Inc. The investment deepens the existing partnership between the two companies, aiming to accelerate the development and adoption of advanced monitoring solutions for the capital markets sector. The collaboration will leverage Keysight’s global reach and support infrastructure to expand the availability of InstrumentiX’s products worldwide.

The partnership addresses the challenge financial institutions face with legacy monitoring systems unable to keep pace with modern markets. InstrumentiX’s xMetrics platform provides firms with real-time visibility across their trading infrastructure to help them optimise performance and meet regulatory obligations. The combined offering will integrate InstrumentiX’s analytics with Keysight’s visibility technologies, while joint research and development will speed innovation. The xMetrics platform is built for flexible adoption and can be integrated with existing systems or deployed as a managed service.

Integral Launches PrimeOne, the First Stablecoin-Based Crypto Prime Brokerage

Integral, specialists in FX and digital asset technology, has launched PrimeOne, the world’s first crypto prime brokerage built on stablecoins. The platform, developed on the Codex Layer-1 EVM blockchain, provides institutional-grade credit, trading, and net settlement services within a single, integrated system.

PrimeOne allows clients to access leading crypto market makers and exchanges through one account, simplifying the onboarding process with a single AML/KYC check and removing credit requirements. Its on-chain infrastructure ensures clients retain full control over their assets. As the value of open positions fluctuates, margin, in the form of USD stablecoins, is automatically moved between counterparty wallets in real-time.

This real-time settlement of margin aims to minimise counterparty credit risk and sets trading limits dynamically based on participants’ balances. The system is designed to improve liquidity and operational efficiency while significantly reducing capital requirements and credit exposure for institutional clients.

Deutsche Börse Group and Circle to Collaborate on Stablecoin Integration for Financial Markets

Deutsche Börse Group and Circle Internet Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to integrate Circle’s EURC and USDC stablecoins into Deutsche Börse’s financial market infrastructure. This agreement, a first of its kind in Europe, aims to develop new solutions for market participants by linking token-based payment networks with traditional financial systems. The initiative is made possible by the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCAR), with Circle being the first major global issuer to achieve compliance.

The collaboration will initially focus on listing and trading the stablecoins on 360T’s digital exchange, 3DX, and through institutional crypto provider Crypto Finance, both part of Deutsche Börse Group. The partnership will also establish institutional-grade digital asset custody via Deutsche Börse’s post-trade business, Clearstream, using Crypto Finance as a sub-custodian. This move is a key step in Deutsche Börse’s digital leadership strategy, building upon its existing crypto services and complementing its work on wholesale central bank digital currencies.

TRG Screen Launches AI Assist Feature within PEAR Platform

TRG Screen has launched AI Assist, a new feature for its PEAR (Policies, Explanations, Analytics, Repository) platform. The tool introduces a conversational interface that allows users to ask plain-language questions about exchange licensing requirements and receive immediate, context-aware answers. The information is sourced directly from TRG Screen’s proprietary knowledge base.

Developed in-house and tested with customers, AI Assist is designed to save time and make it easier for market data and compliance professionals to interpret complex and frequently changing exchange policies. The feature provides users with free-form question capabilities, delivering answers in seconds.

This launch is a key step in TRG Screen’s wider artificial intelligence strategy. The company recently appointed Amjad Zoghbi as Head of AI to accelerate its AI development, and this new feature demonstrates how that investment is translating into client value by bringing AI-powered efficiency to market data management.

Canton Network Partners with Chainlink to Accelerate Institutional Blockchain Adoption

The Canton Network, a permissionless blockchain designed for institutional finance, has entered a strategic partnership with oracle platform Chainlink. The collaboration aims to accelerate the adoption of the Canton Network ecosystem by financial institutions. As part of the agreement, the Canton Network will join the Chainlink Scale programme and integrate key services, including Chainlink Data Streams, SmartData, and the Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP). Chainlink Labs will also operate as a Super Validator on the network.

This partnership provides institutions using Canton with access to Chainlink’s established infrastructure, which secures over $100B in assets across the digital economy. Under the Scale programme, the Canton Network will cover certain operating costs for Chainlink oracle nodes, thereby enhancing its own connectivity, resilience, and transparency. The move is designed to support further innovation in tokenised assets, stablecoins, and digital identity solutions on the network, which already supports over $6T in on-chain assets and processes $280bn in daily repos.