EDX Markets CEO Tony Acuña-Rohter spoke with John Lothian News at FIA Boca 2026 about the continued evolution of digital asset markets and the growing role of institutions.

Key takeaways from the conversation:

• Institutional adoption remains in early stages but is accelerating.
• Separation of functions is critical to market integrity and risk management.
• Partnerships are key to enabling institutional access at scale.
• Stablecoins are playing a growing role in settlement and liquidity.

During the interview, Acuña-Rohter pointed to a clear shift in sentiment among large financial institutions.

“The institutionalization of crypto is definitely still in the early innings,” he said. “We’ve gone now from people saying, ‘Well, you know, I’m not sure. I’m thinking about it’ to ‘How do we get into crypto?’”

Many large banks and broker-dealers are now actively planning their entry, with some expected to go live in the near term.

Reflecting on his background in traditional finance, including three and a half years at CME Group, Acuña-Rohter described the early crypto landscape as lacking key elements of responsible market structure.

“They were popping up more like technology experiments,” he said. “They were more focused on the tech side of things and moving crypto around versus the market structure, the regs and all that.”

That gap reinforced the need to apply established principles around price discovery and capital efficiency.

Acuña-Rohter pointed to the collapse of FTX as a clear illustration of the risks associated with vertically integrated models.

“FTX was fully vertically integrated,” he said. “When that happened, it proved that we need separation of duties.”

Central to that approach is the separation of core functions – exchange, clearing and custody – to help align incentives and reduce systemic risk.

Partnerships are also playing a key role as institutions look for efficient ways to access crypto markets.

“The last thing institutions want to do is onboard five new vendors,” he said. “They want to do it all through their trusted existing vendors or distribution channels.”

On the topic of efficiency, Acuña-Rohter noted that stablecoins are becoming increasingly important to how these markets function, particularly in enabling continuous settlement and more dynamic risk management.

“The impact of stablecoins on the markets has been tremendous,” he said.

As digital asset markets continue to evolve, this interview underscores a consistent theme: institutional growth will depend on infrastructure that combines the efficiency of new technologies with the discipline of traditional market structure.