Ex-Citadel Securities Nicola White joins crypto counterparty B2C2 to head US operation
The firm offers an entry point for financial institutions seeking to trade crypto with a reliable counterparty. Its client base includes banks, brokerages, exchanges, and fund managers.
B2C2, a cryptocurrency counterparty for institutional participants, has appointed Nicola White as President of the US operation.
Nicola White joins B2C2 from Citadel Securities, where she was Global COO of Fixed Income, having developed electronic solutions for institutional markets there. A skill she will bring to B2C2 and enhance their capabilities as a full service liquidity provider.
B2C2 belongs to the Japanese financial group SBI since December 2020 and has recently expanded its offering beyond crypto to include 24/7 FX trading.
The firm allows clients to benefit from capital efficiency through cross-margining – as they would with a traditional prime broker – with its electronic funding product for borrowing and lending in fiat and crypto. B2C2 will soon launch options trading as the firm expands capabilities across instruments.
Ms. White has worked in financial services, spanning trading, software development, and C-suite positions for over 16 years. Prior to Citadel Securities, Nicola was global head of electronic markets within the fixed income division at Morgan Stanley, where she held numerous leadership roles since joining in 2003, with key accomplishments being the electronification of interest rate trading and the launch of a Canadian fixed income business.
She has been involved in the governance of many initiatives including Dodd-Frank and MiFID compliance for rates electronic markets at Morgan Stanley.
At Citadel Securities, Ms. White defined and implemented strategies to establish the firm’s fixed income institutional market-making business, having become the only non-bank market-making member of TradeWeb and driving positive market structure changes for clients in the treasury and swap arena.
Citadel Securities has found itself in the middle of the Robinhood trading disruptions scandal as the broker uses a PFOF model with Citadel as a partner. Robinhood restricted the trading of the Gamestop stock (GME) during the Reddit trading frenzy.
In March, Citadel was fined $275,000 by FINRA for reporting violations. In 2020, the firm was fined $700,000 by the same agency.
Rob Catalanello, Co-CEO of B2C2, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Nicola to the team. She brings with her a vast network of relationships in the traditional finance space, as well as the tools to help ensure that whatever regulatory change occurs in our market, B2C2 will be prepared, thereby allowing a seamless transition for our existing products as well as our new initiatives. Industry-leading technology and top tier customer service are the cornerstones of our offering, and by joining our firm, Nicola will ensure we continue to set a very high bar for the industry.”
Nicola White, President of B2C2 USA, said: “I have been watching cryptocurrency markets as they are innovating at a fast pace and I want to use my experience in growing fixed income businesses to help drive the crypto industry forward. B2C2 for me combines many things that I’m passionate about: improving liquidity and transparency through market-making, spurring the development of new markets, and helping clients solve problems. I’m excited to be part of a firm that is paving the way in bringing leading-edge solutions to global institutional crypto markets.”
B2C2 claims it has continuously served clients with quotes and settlements throughout a record-breaking day of 1 million+ trades executed and 1 billion+ dollars settled while many exchanges get overwhelmed by the market volatility and trading volumes, namely on May 19th 2021.
The firm offers an entry point for financial institutions seeking to trade crypto with a reliable counterparty. Its client base includes banks, brokerages, exchanges, and fund managers.
