Dutch market maker IMC Trading has hired Alex Casimo as chief commercial officer of its cryptocurrency business, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
Casimo started his new role this week and is based in London, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is private.
The hire reflects IMC’s ambition to build deeper, more strategic relationships with institutional counterparties and foundations across the crypto ecosystem, with an eye toward becoming one of the industry’s leading customer-facing companies, the person added.
IMC and Casimo declined to comment.
Previously, Casimo was founder and COO of crypto market maker Portofino Technologies. He also worked at Citadel Securities.
Traditional financial firms are expanding into crypto as customer demand, regulatory clarity and market infrastructure improve, pushing banks, asset managers and trading firms to become more interested in digital assets.
What was once treated as a fringe market is increasingly seen as another investable and exploitable asset class, with institutions creating custody, trading, tokenization and ETF businesses to capture new revenue while avoiding being left behind in a market increasingly integrated with traditional finance.
The Amsterdam-based company already has a significant presence in the crypto space. According to its website, the company trades an average of $3 billion per day, supports hundreds of trading pairs and has access to 50 major exchanges worldwide.
The market maker uses its own capital, advanced algorithms and high-speed technology to buy and sell financial instruments in stocks, options, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other asset classes. By continuously quoting prices and executing trades on exchanges around the world, the company provides liquidity to the markets, helping to ensure smooth trading, while generating profits through small price differences and effective risk management.
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