CEX.IO PRIME

Institutional crypto liquidity, aggregated from multiple providers.

Access deep order books from 15+ managed crypto and liquidity providers through one account and one integration — with the settlement, fiat rails and APIs to run every trade.

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Built for payment institutions, brokers, OTC desks, trading firms, fintechs and treasuries.

$100B+

Trading volume1

1,000+

Institutional clients

300+

Assets across 60+ networks

13 years

Operating since 2013

LIQUIDITY

Aggregated crypto liquidity, built for institutional size

One order, split across multiple order books, filled at one volume-weighted price.

01ORDER 02CEX.IO PRIME 03AGGREGATED BOOK 04RESULT BUY BTC / USDT AMOUNT$1,000,000 ORDER TYPEMarket via FIX 4.4 · REST · WebSocket · Prime UI Validation01 Smart order router02 Order slicing03 15+ managed cryptoand liquidity providers One consolidated fillone volume-weighted price Prime Walletone internal ledger
01ORDER BUY BTC / USDT AMOUNT$1,000,000 ORDER TYPEMarket via FIX 4.4 · REST · WebSocket · Prime UI 02CEX.IO PRIME Validation01 Smart order router02 Order slicing03 03AGGREGATED BOOK 15+ managed cryptoand liquidity providers 04RESULT One consolidated fillone volume-weighted price Prime Walletone internal ledger
How an order fills on CEX.IO Prime
slice filled at the best available price available depth

Execution quality, measured.3

EFFECTIVE SPREAD

3–8 bps

vs ~18 bps on a single venue

CEX.IO Prime 3 to 8 basis points, single venue about 18

SLIPPAGE ON $1M BTC-USDT

~5 bps

vs ~12 bps on a single venue

CEX.IO Prime about 5 basis points, single venue about 12

FILL RATE AT SIZE

97%

vs ~78% on a single venue

CEX.IO Prime 97 percent, single venue about 78 percent

▬ CEX.IO Prime, aggregated     ▬ Single venue, top of book

OPERATING COST

The hidden cost of multi-venue crypto trading

Depth is only half of what trading across several exchanges costs. The rest is counterparty risk, repeated onboarding, fragmented controls and idle capital. Prime consolidates all four into one relationship.

01

Counterparty risk on every exchange

Every exchange you trade on holds part of your balance and is another counterparty to assess, monitor and re-approve. With Prime, execution and settlement are accessed through one integrated account relationship and interface.

02

KYB and onboarding, venue by venue

Each exchange brings its own KYB, legal review and compliance perimeter — then its own renewal cycle. One Prime onboarding process provides access to eligible aggregated liquidity, supported fiat payment functionality and sub-accounts.

03

Fragmented API keys, approvals and statements

Five sets of API keys, five approval models, five statements to reconcile. Prime books every execution to one internal ledger, with role-based access and a single audit log.

04

Pre-funding and rebalancing costs

Pre-funding each exchange leaves capital idle, while rebalancing may involve transfer fees and time out of the market. On Prime your funds stay on one account and do not leave it at the moment of execution.

EXECUTION

Four ways to execute: order book, Instant Convert, RFQ and OTC

Pick the mechanism that fits the trade. All four settle to the same account, the same ledger and the same report.

Order Book

Self-service

Aggregated order book with limit and market orders against aggregated liquidity.

BEST FOR
Active trading, and control over order type and price

Instant Convert

Self-service

Conversion at a fixed price, valid for a short window.

BEST FOR
Fast, predictable conversions

RFQ

Self-service

Request-for-quote for an individually priced trade.

BEST FOR
Larger or less-liquid trades where you want the price before committing

OTC Execution

High-touch

Assisted, off-book execution agreed with your relationship manager.

BEST FOR
Larger spot transactions or transactions requiring negotiated execution

PRODUCTS

Institutional settlement, accounts and wallet infrastructure around every trade

Liquidity is the product. This is the infrastructure that supports it.

One account, sub-accounts underneath

Fiat and crypto in one account view. Sub-accounts per business line, client group or strategy — each with its own deposit addresses, history and controls, and API keys scopable to one of them.

One account, sub-accounts underneath

Prime Liquidity

Aggregated liquidity on one account, reachable four ways: order book, Instant Convert, RFQ and assisted OTC execution.

Asset security

CEX.IO provides secure account and wallet infrastructure for client asset management, with withdrawals subject to whitelisting address requirements and configurable approval controls.

Governance & controls

Role-based access. Single, dual or threshold approvals you configure yourself. Full audit log of who initiated, who approved, how and when. SSO and 2FA.

Settlement & payments

SEPA, SEPA Instant, Faster Payments, SWIFT and wires. Multi-currency balances in EUR, GBP and USD. Near-instant settlement on rails that support it. Stablecoin settlement across popular networks.4

CEX.IO Pay

Move fiat and crypto on the Platform in seconds — no chain, no confirmations, no settlement wait. The rail behind payouts and closed-loop settlement.

Platform access

The Prime terminal for your traders, FIX 4.4 for your order management system, REST and WebSocket for your platform, Webhooks for your back office. Same account, same balances, same controls.

Reporting

One internal ledger behind every product. Statements at account and sub-account level, plus per-product reporting correlated by order, transaction and your own reference IDs.

Dedicated relationship manager

A named relationship manager for your account, backed by a 24/7 institutional desk. Onboarding, limits, controls and product scope are set with you, then reviewed as your flow changes.

WHO IT'S FOR

Built for approved institutional clients across payments, trading and digital assets

Prime is configured for each eligible client at onboarding. These are the shapes it most often takes.

Payment institutions & EMIs

Convert eligible fiat balances into supported crypto-assets or stablecoins through Prime, with access to supported SEPA Instant, Faster Payments and SWIFT, where available.

Execution and same-day fiat from one provider

Exchanges & approved brokers

Access aggregated liquidity for trading activity through one integration, without maintaining separate venue relationships and accounts for each connected venue.

Aggregated depth through one integration

Payment providers & wallets

Integrate eligible liquidity, conversion and settlement functionality into approved institutional workflows through APIs and Webhooks.

Crypto and fiat connectivity through one integration

OTC desks

Use RFQ for price certainty on larger spot transactions, or order slicing across available venues to manage market impact, with assisted OTC spot execution where available.

Price certainty and execution flexibility for larger spot trades

Licensed iGaming

Convert crypto receipts as they arrive, rebalance treasury exposure across supported crypto-assets and stablecoins, and keep operating and settlement flows on separate sub-accounts.

Crypto liquidity for a business that never closes

Trading firms & treasuries

Access aggregated spot liquidity, stablecoin conversion and client-directed treasury rebalancing through configurable account and approval controls.

Spot execution and treasury controls

Something else? Tell us your model — products, assets, rails, limits and controls are set to fit it at onboarding. Talk to our team

CONNECT

Crypto liquidity API — FIX 4.4, REST and WebSocket

Order entry, market data and account events over the transports your stack already speaks.

  • FIX 4.4session-based order entry and execution reporting
  • RESTorders, balances, history, rates, trading conditions
  • WebSocketstreaming market data, order and account events
  • Webhooksevents pushed to your endpoint, no polling
  • Sandboxvalidate your integration before you go live
POST /api/rest/new_orderhttp
POST https://liquidity.prime.cex.io/api/rest/new_order
X-AGGR-KEY:        <your-api-key>
X-AGGR-TIMESTAMP:  1758470400
X-AGGR-SIGNATURE:  <hmac-sha256>
Content-Type:      application/json

{ "pair": "BTC-USDT", "side": "buy", "type": "market",
  "amount": "1000000", "clientOrderId": "your-ref-001" }

■   99.99% uptime   ·   Full API reference at   docs.prime.cex.io

REGULATION & SECURITY

Regulatory status

Licensed and registered in multiple jurisdictions. Applications not yet granted are marked as pending.

United States

Licensed money transmitter in the majority of US states
CEX.IO Corp. · US Licenses and Registrations

FinCEN MSB registration
CEX.IO Corp.

United Kingdom

FCA registration under the Money Laundering Regulations
CEX.IO Markets UK Ltd · not an FCA authorisation

European Union

MiCA CASP authorisation CEX.IO EUROPE, S.L. (Spain) APPLICATION PENDING
PI / EMI APPLICATION PENDING
Security & resilience5
  • PCI DSS Level 1 certified
  • Controls mapped to SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria
  • ISO 27001-aligned information security management
  • Travel Rule data exchange for crypto transfers
  • DORA-aligned ICT risk management
Security & resilience5
  • PCI DSS Level 1 certified
  • Controls mapped to SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria
  • ISO 27001-aligned information security management
  • Travel Rule data exchange for crypto transfers
  • DORA-aligned ICT risk management

COMPARISON

Why institutions choose CEX.IO Prime

The edge is the combination — not any single row.

Capability CEX.IO Prime Pure-play liquidity provider Crypto exchange Software EMS
Multi-venue aggregation across CEX and DEX full not offered not offered full
Multi-jurisdictional services full partial full not offered
Native real-time fiat rails (SEPA Instant / FPS / SWIFT)4 full partial partial not offered
One account relationship for execution and settlement full partial not offered not offered
Conflict-free: no proprietary book trading against your flow full not offered partial full
full partial not offered Typical offering by provider category; individual providers vary.

CEX.IO Prime

Multi-venue aggregation across CEX and DEX
full
Multi-jurisdictional services
full
Native real-time fiat rails4
full
One account relationship for execution and settlement
full
Conflict-free execution
full

Pure-play liquidity provider

Multi-venue aggregation across CEX and DEX
not offered
Multi-jurisdictional services
partial
Native real-time fiat rails4
partial
One account relationship for execution and settlement
partial
Conflict-free execution
not offered

Crypto exchange

Multi-venue aggregation across CEX and DEX
not offered
Multi-jurisdictional services
full
Native real-time fiat rails4
partial
One account relationship for execution and settlement
not offered
Conflict-free execution
partial

Software EMS

Multi-venue aggregation across CEX and DEX
full
Multi-jurisdictional services
not offered
Native real-time fiat rails4
not offered
One account relationship for execution and settlement
not offered
Conflict-free execution
full

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

A crypto liquidity aggregator consolidates the order books of many trading venues into one book, then routes each order to the best available prices across those venues, as determined by the routing logic. Instead of executing against the depth of a single venue, your order draws on combined depth — while you still manage one order, one account and one report.

Prime is not a single-venue liquidity provider. It connects to a liquidity aggregator that combines 15+ managed crypto and liquidity providers, centralised and decentralised, into a single aggregated order book. The composition is managed by the aggregator and changes as markets do.

No. Prime routes your order to the market; it does not take the other side of it, and it does not match orders between Prime clients.

Client assets are held on CEX.IO's in-house infrastructure. Withdrawals go only to whitelisted addresses, under approval rules you configure. Legal entity and asset protection terms are set out in your client agreement.

Client funds do not leave Prime at the moment of execution. Your balance updates immediately on Prime's internal ledger; settlement between Prime and the aggregator runs as a periodic background process, not per trade.

EUR, GBP and USD over SEPA, SEPA Instant, Faster Payments, SWIFT and wires, with near-instant settlement on rails that support it.4 Crypto settlement covers 300+ assets across 60+ blockchain networks.

Prime is a spot platform. It does not offer derivatives, leverage or loans. Execution covers order book trading, Instant Convert, RFQ and assisted OTC execution.

Through the Prime UI, or programmatically over FIX 4.4, REST and WebSocket, with Webhooks for event delivery. A sandbox is available for integration testing before going live.

Commission is set per client and reflects your trading profile and volume.

Onboarding starts with KYB: your company's jurisdiction of establishment, ownership and business activity. Once approved, products, limits and controls are set with your relationship manager, and you get access to the Prime terminal and APIs, with a sandbox for integration testing before going live.

Your contracting entity depends on your jurisdiction and is confirmed during onboarding. Detailed conditions are available in the Terms of Use for each jurisdiction.

GET STARTED

Start with an account, or start with a conversation

Tell us how you trade and how you settle. We come back with the products, the limits and the contracting entity that apply to you.

Prefer self-service?

Full onboarding and KYB, then platform access — fund the account and trade aggregated liquidity yourself.

CREATE AN ACCOUNT

Already a client? Log in

Notes

  1. Scale figures. $100B+ trading volume and 1,000+ institutional clients are aggregated CEX.IO Group figures across all group entities and products, as of 2025–2026. Trading volume means total executed volume across CEX.IO Group platforms over the last 24 months.
  2. Best available price means the best executable price identified by the routing logic among connected eligible venues at the time of execution, subject to available depth, fees, latency, market conditions, client limits and execution constraints. It is not a guarantee of the best price across the entire market: venues not connected to Prime may offer better pricing.
  3. Execution metrics. Based on CEX.IO Prime internal execution data for Q1 2026, BTC-USDT, representative $1M market orders, compared against top-of-book execution on a single venue. Fees excluded. Actual spreads, slippage, fill rates and execution outcomes vary with market conditions, liquidity, latency, order characteristics and venue availability; historical data is not a guarantee of future results.
  4. Fiat payments. Fiat payment functionality is subject to jurisdiction and eligibility and may be provided through authorised banking or payment-service partners.
  5. Security frameworks. Alignment statements reflect CEX.IO's internal assessment of its controls against these frameworks. They do not represent a SOC 2 report, an ISO 27001 certification or a regulatory determination under DORA.