Platforms · Software · Providers · Markets
Registration brings custody into scope
Rostro Group, which owns Scope Markets, said on 3 November 2026 that it had registered as a virtual asset service provider (VASP) in the British Virgin Islands. It intends to provide spot crypto brokerage alongside routes for customers to convert fiat into crypto and back.
The British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (FSC) approved the registration under the Virtual Assets Service Providers Act, 2022. Its public register lists RXM Capital Ltd, trading as RXMdigital, as an exchange and custody provider.
The firm is one of 29 on the FSC's virtual asset list; law firm Walkers counted 14 registrations in July 2025. Rostro's business has centred on FX and CFD trading since its 2022 purchase of Scope Markets.
Brokers expand spot crypto access
Retail brokers have added spot crypto alongside derivatives during 2026, with providers using different regulators and, in many cases, separate legal entities. Pepperstone launched a crypto exchange for Australian customers in February, charging a flat 0.1% trading fee. In Europe, Capital.com secured a Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) licence from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) through Capital Vault Ltd, a company approved in December 2025. The FSC register also names AvaTrade's Ava Trade Markets and four companies connected to Payward, the parent of Kraken. Payward has been pursuing licences and acquisitions in the US, Dubai and Hong Kong.
According to FM Intelligence data, crypto exchanges paid $200 million to $2.9 billion for regulated trading firms during 2025. Rostro began preparing its own expansion in 2024, appointing Mark Foulger as managing director of digital asset innovation in August.
Five months later, the group said it planned to use blockchain and AI technology to bring more of the trade cycle in house. Michael Ayres, group chief executive officer of Rostro Group, said the focus had shifted to execution, with services planned for 2027 and further details due in the coming months. Rostro says its brands, including institutional liquidity business Scope Prime, provide access to more than 40,000 instruments across over 150 countries. Scope Markets is among 186 brokers tracked by FM Intelligence. The registration was first reported by Finance Magnates.
- Planned services include spot crypto brokerage and fiat conversion in both directions.
- The register authorises RXM Capital Ltd to hold client assets and provide crypto-to-fiat swaps.
- Its approved activities also include transferring digital assets.
The integration question
The registration establishes the activities available to RXM Capital Ltd, but Rostro has not described how the service will connect to Scope Markets' existing FX and CFD systems. It has not specified whether RXMdigital will share account, risk, reconciliation or reporting infrastructure with the broker. Those details matter to teams responsible for linking trading records with custody balances.
Operations teams will need to establish how crypto holdings will be reconciled against trades and fiat movements, which entity will handle onboarding and exceptions, and what controls will apply to digital-asset transfers. They should also ask which system will hold the authoritative record of client balances, how transfers will be reflected in trading and custody records, and what reporting processes will be required. Rostro has set 2027 as the planned service timeframe and said it will provide more information in the coming months; the technical design and any migration schedule remain unspecified.
