FalconX
FalconX is a prime broker for digital assets, founded in 2018 by Raghu Yarlagadda and based in San Mateo, California. A prime broker gives a professional investor one account for trading, financing and custody, and FalconX offers this to hedge funds, asset managers, banks, corporate treasuries and fintechs with more than 2,000 institutional clients.
FalconX reports more than 2.5 trillion US dollars in trading volume since its start and more than 8 billion US dollars in institutional financing. The Maltese company FalconX Limited received a MiCA authorization from the Malta Financial Services Authority in June 2026, which lets FalconX serve institutional clients across the European Union.
Prime brokerage for institutions
An institution that trades crypto assets on several exchanges would otherwise need an account, collateral and a credit check at each of them. FalconX bundles this: the client trades through one counterparty, borrows against its holdings, keeps assets in custody and reaches the venues through direct market access, a setup known from crypto prime brokerage.
In crypto options FalconX ranks first in institutional block volume on Paradigm, a network for block trades in crypto options. The firm employs more than 350 people in the United States, Asia and Europe and lists Valletta in Malta among its offices.
Authorization under MiCA in Malta
The Malta Financial Services Authority authorized FalconX Limited on 26 June 2026 as a crypto-asset service provider under Article 63 of MiCA, and FalconX announced the license on 29 June 2026. The authorization covers custody and administration of crypto assets, exchange of crypto assets for funds and for other crypto assets, execution of orders for clients and transfer services.
The ESMA interim MiCA register lists passport notifications for 29 further countries of the EU and the EEA. FalconX Limited also holds a Maltese license as a financial institution for payment services with e-money tokens, the stablecoins that MiCA ties to a single official currency.
21Shares and bloXroute
In October 2025 FalconX agreed to buy the ETP issuer 21Shares and completed the purchase in November 2025 with a mix of cash and shares. 21Shares runs as an independent business under its chief executive Russell Barlow, and its exchange-traded products keep their investment objectives.
In July 2026 FalconX announced the purchase of bloXroute, a company that builds network infrastructure for blockchains, to expand its onchain business. With 21Shares the group covers trading and financing for institutions and listed crypto products for investors in Europe and the United States.
Upcoming fintech and finance events in Europe
What is FalconX?
FalconX is a crypto prime broker for institutional clients that combines trading, financing, custody and ETF solutions in one relationship. FalconX was founded in 2018 and reports more than 2,000 institutional clients, among them asset managers, hedge funds, banks, miners and corporate treasuries.
Crypto prime brokerage for hedge funds and banks
A hedge fund uses the prime brokerage of FalconX to trade on many venues with one margin account and to borrow against its crypto holdings. A bank can use the same setup to source liquidity for its own customers without connecting to each exchange separately.
Clients and trading volume
FalconX reports more than 2,000 institutional clients, more than 2.5 trillion US dollars in trading volume since inception and more than 8 billion US dollars in institutional financing originated. In crypto options, FalconX leads the institutional block volume on Paradigm.
FalconX Limited and the US companies
The MiCA authorization belongs to FalconX Limited in Malta, so EU clients who want a provider under MiCA contract with that company. In the United States, FalconX Bravo, Inc. is registered as a swap dealer with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and FalconX Delta, Inc. is listed under NMLS ID 2419717.
Electronic options and direct market access
Besides spot trading, FalconX offers electronic options and direct market access, through which clients send orders to exchanges over the infrastructure of the prime broker. Both services sit next to trading, financing and custody in the same client relationship.
FalconX and Finance Loop
Finance Loop covers prime brokers such as FalconX in the Investment & Digital Assets track, and their MiCA licenses in the Risk & Compliance track. Banks, asset managers and treasurers who plan crypto trading or listed crypto products meet at Finance Loop events and compare how prime brokers handle credit, custody and settlement.
Finance Loop is a professional network and has the goal of driving the institutional use of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, tokenization, stablecoins, and DeFi. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.