It’s been a while since I’ve talked about crypto, mostly because the crypto space hasn’t been too exciting lately. But we’re getting some nice action this week, notably, the move bitcoin is making today. 

After falling below $20,000 last month, bitcoin has mostly coasted along without any major moves in either direction. That changed today when bitcoin suddenly jumped by 10% overnight to hit $21,000, flashing a break above that important psychological support level of $20k.

Ethereum is making a nice push today too, although not as strong as bitcoin. Ethereum is up over 4% to $1,700 so far. 

A few other coins are rising too, signifying a nice break from the otherwise shaky sentiment surrounding cryptocurrencies. 

The crypto market has had to deal with some pain this year as many institutional investors bailed out of the space, seeing it as a risky asset class to get rid of while the stock market was struggling. 

There have also been a few cyber attacks that were responsible for wallet drains. Almost all of these attacks target large, institutional firms instead of individual investors.

But that issue is being addressed too… 

Named Enclave Cross, the new platform from Enclave aims to allow crypto trading without any information leakage, slippage, or front-running.

The product is an over-the-counter dark pool that services institutional clients and will include a know-your-customer protocol. Currently, the platform supports the trading of major coins like bitcoin, ethereum, Avalanche’s AVAX, and Circle’s USD coin, with more to be added in the future.

If you’re not too familiar with the crypto space, some of that language may sound foreign to you. So, let me break down a few terms. 

A dark pool is basically a private securities exchange in which investors, typically large financial institutions, can make trades anonymously. 

The know-your-customer protocol is a tool that makes sure a financial institution can verify the identity of the other party involved in a crypto exchange. This is important because a lot of crypto cyber attacks happen during the transfer of cryptocurrencies. 

Now, to protect from cyber-attacks, Enclave must have no visibility into customer order flow before it hits the order book. The platform also doesn't contain internal market makers or preferential access according to its CEO David Wells.

Enclave is making a step in the right direction here, aiming to solve issues associated with trading cryptocurrency. The growth of institutional interest in crypto has opened doors for this type of platform and addressing security concerns will open the door for more institutional investors to get involved with cryptocurrency.

Naturally, if this service can plant its flag and succeed in what it aims to do, it should translate to a boost in the crypto space as more institutions buy into a variety of coins.