Five Years of Building Institutional Market Structure — and the Next Era On-Chain
On November 12, 2020, Galaxy acquired DrawBridge Lending, a decisive move that reshaped our trading business. Bitcoin traded near $15,000 that day. Five years later, the market is larger, faster, and more complex — and Galaxy stands among the few firms that have scaled with discipline through every cycle.
What began with the integration of DrawBridge’s lending and derivatives expertise has evolved into one of the most active institutional trading platforms in digital assets. Earlier this year, Galaxy executed one of the largest notional Bitcoin transactions ever recorded, underscoring the depth of our liquidity and the confidence counterparties place in our execution. At the same time, our average loan book continues to climb toward $2B, reflecting both the maturity of our financing franchise and the capital strength behind it.
Over the past five years and through these milestones, our focus has remained consistent:
Share our collective expertise across traditional finance and digital assets to help institutions navigate an evolving market landscape.
Bridge traditional and digital markets through structured products and disciplined infrastructure.
Deliver liquidity with integrity — deep execution, rigorous risk management, and operational resilience.
Engineer financing and yield solutions that allow institutions to deploy capital efficiently.
Above all, championing our clients’ success through trusted partnerships and a solutions-oriented approach.
Institutional crypto markets have matured from fragmented venues into connected ecosystems. The next phase will demand platforms that can seamlessly combine trading, financing, and custody under one unified, compliant architecture.
That’s where we’re headed. With GalaxyOne Institutional, we’re extending the same risk and capital framework that powers our trading business into a broader client platform — one that connects liquidity, balance-sheet utility, and access in a single environment.
Five years on, the mission remains the same: pair institutional rigor with innovation. The next five will be about expanding that foundation across tokenized markets, real-world assets, and on-chain financing — as TradFi comes to the blockchain. The future of finance is on-chain, and we’re meeting our clients at the forefront of that shift.
None of this would be possible without the trust of our clients, the collaboration of our partners, and the dedication of our team. We’re grateful to everyone who has helped shape what Galaxy Trading is today—and what it continues to become.
Jason Urban
Global Head of Trading, Galaxy
We also captured a video conversation with Jason that brings these themes to life — his perspective on navigating every cycle, what defines our culture today, and why the next five years matter even more.
Watch: Navigating Every Cycle: Jason Urban on Five Years of Growth at Galaxy
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