Blog
Market structure, institutional crypto, and off-exchange settlement, from the BridgePort team.
The Digital Assets Edge reports that BridgePort has begun piloting the Digital Asset Master Agreement (DAMA), a common legal standard for off-exchange settlement between trading firms, custodians, and exchanges. The outlet covers DAMA's configurable template, the newly formed working group testing it across live relationships, and comments from CEO Nirup Ramalingam and CPO Steve Bartfield on why standardization matters
RegTech Insights reports that BridgePort is piloting the Digital Asset Master Agreement (DAMA), a reusable legal framework for off-exchange settlement between trading firms, custodians, and exchanges. The outlet breaks down how DAMA standardizes custody, settlement, operations, and default terms – while preserving room to configure agreements for individual counterparties. Read the full coverage on RegTech Insights.
BitBullNews reports that BridgePort is piloting the Digital Asset Master Agreement (DAMA), a shared legal standard for off-exchange settlement. In a Q&A with CPO Steve Bartfield, the outlet covers DAMA's governance model, treatment of venue insolvency, and BridgePort's 12–24 month timeline for making legal documentation a routine part of OES onboarding.
BridgePort is piloting the Digital Asset Master Agreement (DAMA), a shared legal standard for off-exchange settlement between trading firms, custodians, and exchanges. Inspired by the ISDA Master Agreement, DAMA replaces bespoke, months-long negotiations with a reusable framework covering custody, settlement, operations, and default terms – cutting onboarding time while letting counterparties tailor key provisions. BridgePort is now forming a working group for DAMA.
Every institution in crypto accepts something they'd never tolerate elsewhere: capital sitting idle on exchange just to access liquidity. BridgePort CEO Nirup Ramalingam draws a direct line to FX before CLS – and argues the industry's real constraint isn't regulation, it's infrastructure. Here's why the firms that solve this first will define the next phase of institutional crypto.
Crypto market structure analytics: issue #10 from Bridget and our CCO Chris Soriano examines how the April 14 short squeeze produced opposite responses in BTC and ETH derivatives markets. BTC traders on Binance rebuilt shorts to a 37.5% long-ratio low. ETH traders recovered to 63.9%. A 19-point divergence on the same exchange demands explanation.
Forbes features our CEO Nirup Ramalingam in a discussion framed around Kraken's IPO filing. It argues that institutional crypto is volume-constrained not by demand or regulation, but by settlement infrastructure that is fifteen years behind every other asset class. Forbes came to BridgePort – as the settlement layer institutional crypto needs before the next wave of capital can enter – and that already has the support of major players.
Crypto market structure analytics: Bridget and Chris Soriano analyze in issue #9 long/short positioning across BTC, ETH, SOL and XRP through the April US-Iran ceasefire. One asset absorbed the macro narrative. Three ignored it. What that split means for trading firms using cross-asset positioning signals.
Issue 8: In October 2025, crypto traders came in short and bought the crash hard. In April, they came in max-long – and trimmed. Our AI Crypto analytics assistant, Bridget's long/short analysis across Binance and Bybit captures the moment the dip-buying reflex quietly shifted. The book is still long. But for the first time, it got lighter when it had every reason to get heavier.
They Bought Every Selloff. Every Single One. The week of March 17 handed crypto traders two reasons to reduce risk. First the Fed held rates and revised inflation higher, sending BTC from $74,000 to $70,900 in hours. Then Iran escalated, oil pushed above $100, and the market sold off again. And again. And again. What the derivatives book has shown since is that traders responded to all of it the same way: they bought.
The Derivatives Book Flinched. The Traders Behind It Didn't. On March 18, the Federal Reserve delivered exactly what crypto markets didn't want: an upward inflation revision and a dot plot anchored at one cut for 2026. BTC dropped from $74,000 to $70,900 within hours. We asked Bridget to skip the headline and read the positioning data.
Curatia features our CCO & Co-Founder Chris Soriano in an industry roundtable discussing: is tokenization revolutionary or evolutionary? How will it impact asset classes differently? Could it exacerbate liquidity fragmentation? Who will benefit more from the technology — institutions or retail traders? Are vertically-integrated trading venues a path to efficiency or a peril?
BridgePort, the institutional coordination layer for crypto off-exchange settlement, today announced the appointment of Zane Suren as Chief Revenue Officer. Suren will lead BridgePort's global revenue strategy, owning revenue and commercial architecture, pipeline development, and the build-out of the company's sales function as the network scales. Suren joins from Zodia Custody, the digital asset custodian backed by Standard Chartered Bank.
Last weekend, U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran sent Bitcoin crashing to $63,000. By Wednesday it was touching $74,000. The narrative on both sides of that move was loud – panic sellers on the way down, euphoric buyers on the way up. We asked Bridget to ignore the narrative and measure the actual structure. What she found cuts through both camps.
Sherwood features Chris Soriano, CCO of BridgePort, in an analysis of how crypto spot ETF flows are diverging, and what it reveals about investor behavior
Bloomberg features Nirup Ramalingam, CEO of BridgePort, in an analysis of why Bitcoin’s 24/7 trading risk spikes while Wall Street sleeps
In this exclusive interview, Nirup Ramalingam spoke about his transition from traditional finance (TradFi) to Web3. He also shed light on the crucial need for institutional-grade interoperability between exchanges and custodians, and why the next wave of capital relies on robust infrastructure rather than fleeting market hype.
360T’s Crypto Platform 3DX Integrates BridgePort Middleware for Off Exchange Settlement
360T’s Crypto-Asset Trading Platform 3DX Partners with BridgePort to deliver sophisticated off-exchange settlement solutions to trading firms.
SOL is down on the week. The funding market is screaming that shorts are winning. Yet the majority of traders haven't moved. We asked Bridget to look past the price action and measure what's actually happening beneath the surface of the SOL market this week. What she found is one of the clearest examples of conviction versus market signal we've seen in recent memory. Are the longs right to hold, or are they just not paying attention?
At BridgePort, we understand the infrastructure gap that real-time margin settlement creates – and we understand how to close it.
When Standard Chartered announced plans to establish a crypto prime brokerage through its SC Ventures unit, it became the latest example of traditional finance bringing institutional-grade infrastructure to digital assets. The move highlights how crypto traders are finally gaining access to the flexible, multi-faceted services that have been standard in traditional markets for decades.
The crypto market has been grinding lower, and the prevailing headline is that liquidity has disappeared. We asked Bridget, to look past the macro panic and measure the actual order books.
At BridgePort, we understand that OTC crypto moves in real-time, and your margin settlement should too.
Harriet Rosewell has joined BridgePort as Head of Growth & Strategy, drawn by the team’s clarity on how institutional digital asset infrastructure needs to be built.
In crypto, we are taught to 'Follow the volume'. The logic is simple: High Volume = High Liquidity. But last week, Bridget flagged a structural warning sign. We compared the 'Active Flow' (volume) against the 'Passive Walls' (depth) and found a massive disconnect.
Everyone is talking about the recent price crash, but they are ignoring the quality of the volume. We analyzed the market structure during the drop using Bridget, our AI analytics tool
The post-trade stack is finally converging on tokenization and real-time settlement, yet the operational and regulatory lift remains far heavier than the industry admits.
Discover BridgePort's new Crypto Market Intelligence analytics package. Optimize trading with AI-powered insights into fragmented crypto markets.
Discover BridgePort's new Crypto Market Intelligence platform, offering unparalleled insights into exchange performance and execution quality.
Nirup Ramalingam of BridgePort & Aly Madhavji of Blockchain Founders Fund discuss the pre-funding problem and how to solve it in TheStreet.
The cryptocurrency market’s path to institutional maturity lies in replicating the infrastructure that governs foreign exchange trading, according to Steve Bartfield, chief product officer of BridgePort, speaking at the FIA EXPO in mid-November.
BridgePort, the middleware coordination layer for off-exchange settlement (OES) in institutional crypto, has launched BridgePort Analytics, an exchange intelligence platform designed to support institutional trading firms operating in OES environments. The platform includes Bridget, an AI-powered assistant that allows users to query execution and venue data using natural language.
BridgePort, the middleware coordination layer for institutional crypto off-exchange settlement (OES), today announced the launch of BridgePort Analytics featuring Bridget, an AI-powered exchange-intelligence analyst that helps institutions optimize execution and settlement decisions across fragmented markets.
Anchorage Digital, a crypto platform that provides institutions with integrated financial services and custody solutions, has selected institutional middleware provider BridgePort to provide the coordination layer to facilitate access to traditional and non-custodial execution venues looking to offer digital asset trading services to their clients through Anchorage's Atlas Network.
A platform's onboarding polish should not be confused for its ability to execute trades and handle immense volumes, argues Bridgeport co-founder and CCO Chris Soriano.
In the world of digital assets, speed is king. Crypto markets have long celebrated the promise of instant settlement: trades can clear in seconds and capital is theoretically liberated from the delays of legacy finance.
Building foundations, integrations, analytics, investment and a fantastic team
In the fast-evolving world of digital assets, security is paramount. Institutional players demand robust solutions to protect their investments. Digital asset custody options have become a critical component in safeguarding crypto holdings. I will walk you through the essentials of these options, their importance, and how to choose the right service to ensure your assets remain secure and accessible.Understanding Digital Asset Custody OptionsDigital asset custody options refer to the various met
Crypto’s Analog Crutch: Why Prefunding Does Not Scale for Institutions
BridgePort Achieves SOC 2 Type 2 Compliance: A Testament to Our Commitment to Security
e-Forex speaks with Nirup Ramalingam, CEO of BridgePort who talks about some of the valuable and important lessons that the Institutional Digital Asset marketplace can learn from the way the FX trading market has evolved.
BridgePort is addressing institutional crypto trading vulnerabilities by connecting exchanges to custodians through middleware technology that eliminates the need for firms to pre-fund assets on multiple trading venues, according to CEO Nirup Ramalingam
A new financial architecture is forming underneath the world's largest pools of capital. The winners will be those who recognize that standards built now will define economic value transfer for a generation
BridgePort in Double Play to Advance Institutional Digital Asset Settlement
Partnership integrates BridgePort’s middleware for off-exchange settlement with Lynq’s real-time, interest-bearing settlement network, enhancing capital efficiency and streamlining workflows for institutional clients
BridgePort, the institutional coordination layer streamlining the off-exchange settlement of crypto, today announced that it is building a real-time variation margin settlement application designed to improve how counterparties manage collateral and margin obligations for bilateral derivatives. The application is being developed on the Canton Network
The CFTC's "Listed Spot Crypto Trading Initiative" aims to establish a clear regulatory framework and market structure for institutional crypto in the U.S, but it has also created divided opinions on how the industry should move forward, writes Nirup Ramalingam, CEO and Co-Founder of BridgePort. The debate centers on whether to use the CFTC's existing powers under the Commodity Exchange Act or pass new, comprehensive legislation
The loudest crypto story in 2025 is not actually memecoins, digital asset treasury companies, or even crypto company IPOs. It is the migration of risk, collateral, and price discovery onto regulated rails. You can see it in one metric that is hard to fake: open interest (“OI”) on CME.
Demand for bilateral trading, like OTC FX market structure, is fuelling crypto’s institutional take-up, finds BridgePort
Crypto Finance, part of Deutsche Börse Group, announces the launch of Crypto Finance AnchorNote, a custody-native pledging solution to enable off-exchange settlement and yield enhancing services by acting as the collateral custodian. The solution deploys BridgePort as the middleware service provider for off-exchange settlement
Using BridgePort's middleware, Deutsche Börse Group’s Crypto Finance has launched AnchorNote, which enables institutional clients to trade digital assets across multiple venues without moving assets out of custody, which improves capital efficiency and security
BridgePort CEO Nirup Ramalingam addresses crypto infrastructure and compares its evolution to that of traditional assets.
BridgePort Achieves SOC 2 Type 1 Compliance. A milestone advances our long-term security strategy.
CLARITY Act will not only give institutions the confidence to develop their digital asset strategies, but will also serve as a regulatory template for other major financial hubs.
Stablecoins are playing a bigger role in U.S. Treasury markets than many realize. In this op-ed, BridgePort’s CEO explains how — and why it matters.
While crypto's explosive growth often dominates headlines, its journey to institutional maturity faces a significant, yet often overlooked, challenge: extreme liquidity fragmentation. In a compelling new article for e-Forex, BridgePort's Chief Commercial Officer, Chris Soriano, dives deep into this "great crypto liquidity fragmentation problem" and lays out a clear path forward.
In crypto, one platform often tries to do it all – broker, custodian, venue, and settlement layer. It's the 'Swiss Army Knife' approach. But what scales early adoption doesn't always scale institutional demand. Discover why specialization, not consolidation, is crypto's true path to scale
BridgePort named Steven Bartfield Chief Product Officer. With 15 years of experience in institutional trading, market structure, and fintech—from Goldman Sachs’ Credit Market Structure Strategy to CME Group and AI-driven data platform—Bartfield will drive BridgePort’s product roadmap. His focus: deepen enterprise integrations, accelerate agentic AI, and deliver transparent, automation-first infrastructure for institutional crypto trading. He holds an MBA from Wharton and is a CFA charterholder.
From "morning runs" to modern screens, FX evolved. Now, crypto faces similar growing pains, building "walled gardens" instead of embracing efficiency. We've seen this story: liquidity finds a way. Is your strategy ready for inevitable market evolution, or will you be left behind?
BridgePort has raised $3.2 M in seed funding led by Further Ventures, with backing from Virtu, XBTO, Blockchain Founders Fund, Fun Fair Ventures, and Humla Ventures. The platform provides agnostic middleware for off-exchange settlement, eliminating prefunding and credit risk through real-time messaging and coordinated collateral management, enhancing capital efficiency and interoperability.
BridgePort has announced the launch of its groundbreaking middleware platform, designed to enhance institutional crypto trading and settlement. Supported by industry leaders like Virtu, XBTO, Blockchain Founders Fund, Fun Fair Ventures, and Humla Ventures, the platform introduces essential off-exchange settlement infrastructure, connecting execution venues and custody providers for pre-order asset allocation and post-trade settlement.
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