LMAX Group CEO: Crypto is the Third Industrial Revolution

Space’s market cap will likely overtake commodities after asset managers get more involved, David Mercer says.

article-image

LMAX CEO David Mercer | Blockworks exclusive art by Axel Rangel

share

key takeaways

  • Asset managers putting pressure on banks to adopt crypto so as to help them enter the space, Mercer says
  • Executive calls frictionless capital markets that operate seven days a week “incredible”

Cryptocurrencies will be the predominant assets traded in the decades ahead, LMAX Group CEO David Mercer said during an interview at Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit last month.

LMAX Group is an independent operator of multiple institutional execution venues for foreign exchange and cryptocurrency trading. The London-based company launched the first physical cryptocurrency exchange dedicated to serving only institutional clients in 2018.

Though access to crypto markets is not ideal right now for many asset managers, the executive noted, 70% of LMAX’s 200 biggest institutional customers said in a survey that these players will be the biggest traders of crypto assets three years from now.

“If the asset managers enter the space with just 5% of their portfolio, the market cap has to be $5trn because there’s $110 trillion of assets under management today,” he explained. “That’s just going to be the case, and probably crypto will grow into being 10% or 20% at that stage that it naturally overtakes commodities.”

Watch the full interview below, and watch all of the panel videos from DAS here


Are you a UK or EU reader that can’t get enough investor-focused content on digital assets? Join us in London on November 15th and 16th for the Digital Asset Summit (DAS) London. Use code ARTICLE for £75 off your ticket. Buy it now.


Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

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.

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Pipe Network is a decentralized content delivery network (dCDN) that replaces the sparse, capital intensive data center footprint of traditional CDNs with a permissionless mesh of independent node operators. By orchestrating under-utilized resources that already exist at the edge, rather than purchasing or leasing thousands of servers, Pipe slashes capital intensity while letting supply expand autonomously in the places where bandwidth is scarcest and most expensive.

article-image

With Galaxy set to report earnings tomorrow, Rittenhouse Research rated it a strong buy in a recent note

article-image

A new quantum experiment shows that observation changes reality — but investors knew that already

article-image

Solana apps and app tokens could be in for a ‘mass repricing’

article-image

Company looks to bring tokenized equities “to meet the moment in this new regulatory environment,” CEO Brian Armstrong said

article-image

Musings on securities laws, plus Paul Atkins unveiling “Project Crypto” at the SEC

article-image

A spooky story about the importance of self-custody