Ben Strack

<div id="highlights-block_6217f4af521b7" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The company seeks to launch indices for investors interested in crypto but worried about the energy usage of certain tokens, CEO says</li>
 <li>Vinter raised $3.4 million in January to expand its range of cryptoasset indices for ETP and ETF issuers</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Fresh off a funding round, Swedish crypto index provider Vinter has inked a deal with a digital assets derivatives exchange to provide pricing for its investment products.



Vinter’s single-asset indices are set to serve as the reference rate for D2X’s derivatives, giving institutional investors “clean” exposure, Vinter CEO Jacob Lindberg told Blockworks.&nbsp;



“Volumes in crypto derivatives continue to outperform spot volumes, and there are no indications of this growth slowing down, [so] it’s the perfect timing for a partnership like this,” Lindberg wrote in an email. “Furthermore, partnering with Vinter means D2X will be using crypto indexes that are already well-established and trusted in the European crypto [exchange-traded product] industry.”



Vinter — founded in what the company calls the “crypto winter” of 2019 — offers indices that track the price of assets including bitcoin, ether, cardano, polkadot, binance coin, uniswap, xinfin and tezos.



The company has also rolled out indices with several assets grouped by market capitalization or themes, including decentralized finance (DeFi) coins or tokens issued by centralized exchanges.



D2X said the Vinter deal will aid the exchange’s aims of developing a safe, regulated market infrastructure for derivatives in Europe.



The Amsterdam-based company offers cash-settled digital asset options and futures denominated in euros.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Future growth</h3>



Vinter raised $3.4 million in January to expand its range of cryptoasset indices for ETP and ETF issuers. Octopus Ventures led the seed round.



The cash injection is earmarked for hiring data experts to analyze risks and trends, as well as onboarding developers and technical engineers.



Zihao Xu, Octopus Ventures’ head of fintech, told Blockworks that crypto is due for a shift toward passive products “as demand for regulated exposure to cryptoassets increases” — from benchmark trackers to smart-beta strategies.



“The ability to create flexible products at scale is reliant on a robust index provider, and we believe Vinter is well placed to play that role,” Xu said.



Vinter is looking to introduce niche, customized indices to certain sectors, Lindberg said, including ones “suitable for investors interested in crypto but worried about the energy usage of certain tokens.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Europe crypto ETFs are hot</h3>



Vinter has been in the thick of Europe’s crypto ETP (exchange-traded product) proliferation in recent months. Product launches across the continent have come as the Securities and Exchange Commission <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/when-will-the-sec-approve-a-spot-bitcoin-etf/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">has not yet approved</a> ETFs that hold crypto directly.



The security and convenience of crypto exposures through a regulated product is attractive to retail investors and often a necessity for institutional players, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/with-us-bitcoin-etf-in-limbo-crypto-exchange-traded-products-all-the-rage-in-europe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">issuers told Blockworks</a>.



Vinter is the index provider for Valour, Bytetree Asset Management, Wavebridge and 21Shares. The latter company, the world’s largest issuer of crypto ETPs, partnered with Vinter in September.



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/21shares-crypto-etp-in-europe-excludes-btc-and-eth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">It launched</a> an ETP tracking the Vinter 21Shares Crypto Mid-Cap Index, which excludes bitcoin and ethereum. <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/21-shares-expands-crypto-etps/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">21Shares intends</a> to offer access to what the firm considers the top 50 cryptocurrencies in ETP wrappers by the end of the year.



“Many begin their journey into crypto by purchasing BTC and ETH via financial wrappers like ETPs,” Lindberg told Blockworks at the time. “Once you learn more, a natural next step is to dive deeper, and when they find that many of them have outperformed BTC and ETH for the past year, they naturally get curious.”



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Crypto Index Provider Vinter Enlisted To Price Digital Asset Derivatives

Michael Bodley

<div id="highlights-block_61ddffb312de4" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The startup just raised a seed round of €5 million, or $5.7 million, to expand its operations</li>
 <li>At launch, D2X plans to offer bitcoin and ethereum cash-settled derivatives that are denominated in euros</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



An Amsterdam-based exchange is angling to become the first European Union-regulated entity offering institutional investors exposure to crypto derivatives.



D2X just raised $5.7 million in a seed round led by the blockchain-focused venture capital firm Tioga Capital Partners to support that effort. The company’s valuation was not disclosed.&nbsp;



The startup has applied for a license from the Dutch regulator AFM, CEO Théodore Rozencwajg told Blockworks.



The goal is for AFM to grant D2X a multilateral trading facility (MTF) license by the end of the third quarter, Rozencwajg said. Because European regulators have reciprocity agreements with each other, the exchange could then market throughout the EU.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“We identified that there was huge demand in Europe, basically, for institutions wanting to get into the space and specifically in the derivatives segment, but adoption was still pretty slow,”&nbsp; Rozencwajg said.&nbsp;</blockquote>



Another investor joining the round, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/arbitrage-opportunities-in-digital-assets-flow-traders-edd-carlton/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Flow Traders</a>, is a leading crypto market-maker. The idea is to tap the firm for additional liquidity after D2X launches, Rozencwajg said.



At launch, which could come as soon as September, D2X plans to offer options and futures built on Bitcoin and Ethereum. The exchange won’t offer spot trading, focusing exclusively on cash-settled derivatives denominated in euros.&nbsp;



Other exchanges have previously received MFT approvals from the United Kingdom, but Brexit has prevented them from being used for passport purposes.&nbsp;



Rozencwajg came up with the idea for D2X while working with co-founder and chief technology officer Don van der Krogt at Netherlands market-maker All Options. The pair explored the possibility of starting an in-house crypto trading desk — which was too complex from a regulatory standpoint — before starting up D2X in late 2020.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="352" height="237" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/D2X.jpg" alt="D2X Team" class="wp-image-13818" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/D2X.jpg?w=352 352w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/D2X.jpg?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/D2X.jpg?w=325 325w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/D2X.jpg?w=80 80w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/D2X.jpg?w=50 50w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 352px) 100vw, 352px" /><figcaption>D2X: Theodore Rozencwajg, CEO (center), Don van der Krogt, CTO (right) and Laetitia Grimaud, general counsel (Left)</figcaption></figure></div>



The company raised a pre-seed round to kickstart operations and now has 13 employees, which Rozencwajg expects to grow to 30 by September 2022. The latest capital infusion will be deployed in three main areas: risk management, technology and regulation.



In addition to the Brussels-based Tioga Capital and Flow Traders, Darley Technologies, Fortino Capital, Picus Capital, Kima Ventures, and Philippe Jabre’s family office also participated in the round.



Laetitia Grimaud co-founded D2X with Rozencwajg and van der Krogt. Frederic Colette, formerly the head of Societe General’s prime brokerage, holds the title of chief operating officer.&nbsp; Ernest van der Hout, previously the head of risk for clearinghouse LCH.Clearnet, is the exchange’s head of risk.



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Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



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