1 min. read
How Enigma Securities scaled transaction volume from $30M to $8B per quarter with Fireblocks
Benefits at a glance
$30M
trading volume per quarter before Fireblocks
$8B
trading volume per quarter after Fireblocks
Enigma Securities is a broker dealer and the cryptocurrency arm of international brokerage firm Makor Securities. Enigma offers spot and derivatives trading, borrowing and lending, cryptocurrency-linked equity products and other structured products. The company is distributed across locations and time zones across Tel Aviv, London (HQ), Paris, Geneva and New York.
Client Challenges
Enigma’s hardware wallet solution couldn’t keep up with settlement volume
To settle trades, Enigma was using Ledger, a hardware wallet solution. Enigma employees had to plug Ledger devices into a computer and manually enter a password up to 50 times per day.
With offices in multiple time zones across the globe, Enigma struggled to manage this wallet solution as their trading volume grew. If they continued using Ledger for manual settlement, Enigma knew they’d have to hire more employees to keep up with the growing transaction volume, which is not a scalable solution and would increase operational and enterprise risk for the firm.
They needed a more systematic, robust, scalable solution to support a large variety of crypto assets, including Altcoins and banking networks.
We realized very quickly, this approach would not scale, given the amount of business we were doing over the globe. We were looking for a better solution to move away from manual application of Ledger.
Fireblocks Solution
Secure and fast connectivity for instant, secure settlement
Enigma evaluated all the available technology providers. They chose Fireblocks based on the expansive coverage of crypto assets it supported (BCH, Ethereum, Cardano, and Tezos), and availability of the API integration.
Once Enigma switched to Fireblocks, they took advantage of two key features to scale their business: The Fireblocks Network:
Fireblocks’ relationship with top liquidity providers means Enigma can plug in new liquidity providers quickly and seamlessly. This approach allows cost-efficient, rapid in-network settlement.
The Policy Engine and Wallet Infrastructure: Thanks to the flexibility of the Fireblocks’ infrastructure, Enigma can whitelist internal and external wallets added by clients. Enigma also automates policies based on counterparty risk and credit limits: They can define the number of confirmations required for a given counterparty, based on their internal counterparty assessment.
For example, a strong counterparty can settle within 10 minutes, whereas a weak counterparty might be required to settle in six times the baseline confirmation time. Instead of managing this system manually, they’re able to build these policies into the flexible wallet infrastructure.
Imagine tracking every settlement. Now, we don’t have to. The policy is set within the infrastructure.
Results
Reduced operational risk while scaling to billions of dollars of transactions per month
As an FCA regulated entity, Enigma must demonstrate that they have the operational capacity and competence to transfer funds and settle trades. Before, they would have needed to hire dozens of employees to manage the increased trading volume, which would have increased operational risk and accrued unnecessary cost. But after implementing Fireblocks, Enigma could scale trading volume securely, by systematizing and automating operations using the Fireblocks Policy Engine.
Enigma now transacts across the globe without the hassle of plugging a hard wallet device into a computer hundreds of times per day.
The faster we settle, the more transactions we can do with our counterparties. There is a significant business consequence to being able to settle quickly, in a safe and convenient manner. Fireblocks has really helped us scale — we’re trading across the globe at this point and transacting in billions a month.
