BlockFi Launches ‘Prime’ For Institutional Investors

Demand steady from institutional and high-net worth individuals despite slump in market.

article-image

Source: Shutterstock

share

key takeaways

  • BlockFi executives call this the ‘evolution’ of digital assets
  • Margin trading and lending as well as derivatives are in the works

Citing high demand from institutional investors, BlockFi announced today that its launching BlockFi Prime, a trading platform geared towards institutional investors and high-net worth individuals.

BlockFi Prime will offer clients a “full suite” of trading capabilities including real-time streaming quotes, a 24-hour settlement cycle, real-time quotes, and, in the future margin lending, trading, as well as access to derivatives markets.

BlockFi also said that it will include API access that lets users integrate their own high-frequency trading algorithms into the platform. 

BlockFi’s 24-hour settlement tool means that traders don’t have to pre-fund their account to trade. Instead, it can be funded up to 24 hours after the trade which is useful for a market that operates outside of traditional business hours.  

“Developing and launching BlockFi Prime is a natural next step for us as we continue to respond to the evolution of digital assets and institutional investors adjust their trading strategies,” said David Olsson, Vice President and Global Head of Institutional Distribution at BlockFi, in a statement. “Just in the last year, we have added lending, trade execution, private client services and new products in order to help our clients meet their investment goals, and BlockFi Prime gathers all of those resources in one easy-to-use tool.”

In another interview Olsson said that BlockFi has a few hundred active institutional clients, up from 30 a year ago. 

Speaking with Blockworks via email, he said that BlockFi believes institutions are still interested in entering the market despite what some have called the beginning of a bear market. 

“Institutions committed to the space when prices were higher, and invested in the infrastructure and human resources needed to support their investments for the long haul,” he said. “Now, those institutional investors still believe in the macro case for crypto, due to an inflationary economic environment and use cases for blockchain’s utility. For those reasons, we believe the most potential alpha of any asset class is in crypto at the moment.”

On June 8, news leaked that BlockFi was in talks to raise a new Series E funding round of $500 million, bringing the company total valuation to nearly $5 billion.

The latest BlockFi news comes on the heels of two other significant moves that meld the world of digital assets and traditional finance.

Earlier Thursday, State Street, a custodian bank that manages over $40 trillion in assets, announced that it is opening up a digital assets division covering both crypto and tokenized assets.

In addition, hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger said that it had closed a $380 million Series C fundraising round to expand its institutionally-focused secure custody solutions.   

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Featured.png

Research

Helium stands at a pivotal moment in its evolution as a decentralized wireless network, balancing rapid growth, economic restructuring, and global expansion. With accelerated growth in domestic DAUs and Hotspots supporting its network, Helium is leveraging strategic partnerships and innovative proposals to scale internationally. The recent implementation of HIP 138, “Return to HNT,” has unified its token economy under HNT, simplifying participation and strengthening liquidity, while HIP 139’s phase-out of CBRS refocuses efforts on scalable Wi-Fi offload. Meanwhile, governance shifts under HIP 141 raise questions about centralization as Nova Labs consolidates control over the roadmap.

article-image

The DeFi Education Fund has ideas on how the crypto-friendly SEC can bring Commissioner Peirce’s vision to life

article-image

“Be prepared to do more with less,” Framework Ventures’ Michael Anderson said

article-image

Q1 may have been “frustrating,” but things are looking brighter for Q2

article-image

Tokens worth 20% of the current supply of the TRUMP memecoin launched by the president are set to be unlocked tomorrow

article-image

A crypto-industry lawsuit is “moot” now that Joint Resolution 25 has been signed into law

article-image

Fed Chair Powell assured markets that the labor market is in “good place,” dependent on price stability