From Coinpedia · By PR Manager
Cregis says larger brokers are increasingly looking beyond payment acceptance as digital asset operations become more complex.
Unlike crypto exchanges, FX brokers have traditionally competed on client acquisition, regional expansion, and operational efficiency rather than building technology stacks from scratch. As a result, much of the industry’s infrastructure has evolved around specialist providers. Trading runs on platforms such as MetaTrader, CRM systems are commonly outsourced, and digital asset payments have largely followed the same model through third-party payment gateways.
That division of labour has made commercial sense for years. Even some of the industry’s largest firms rely on external providers for parts of their digital asset capabilities, allowing internal teams to stay focused on growth, customer experience and global operations.
But as digital asset activity grows, some firms are beginning to revisit where outsourced payments end and internal building begins.
According to Shawn Yan, Founder and CEO of Cregis, an enterprise digital asset infrastructure platform serving a growing number of FX brokers, that conversation is now beginning to evolve.
“Five years ago, most discussions centred on enabling crypto payments. Today, brokers are asking broader questions around treasury management, internal controls and how digital assets fit into their operating model,” said Yan.
When Scale Changes the Equation
For many brokers, payment gateways remain an efficient solution. They are fast to integrate, require limited engineering resources and work well for firms building out their digital asset offering.
The discussion tends to change as volumes grow.
Based on its work with FX brokers across multiple markets, Cregis is seeing larger firms place greater emphasis on how digital assets are managed across the business, from treasury and settlement to internal approvals and liquidity management.
Yan sees this as a natural evolution rather than a replacement of one model by another. “As transaction volumes grow, firms naturally begin focusing on efficiency, governance and how digital asset operations can scale alongside the business,” he added.
Based on Cregis’ experience, the shift tends to surface in three areas.
One is economics. Payment providers typically charge based on transaction volume, a model that is straightforward at a smaller scale but becomes more material as settlement volumes grow.
Another is operational oversight. Under traditional payment service providers(PSPs) models, parts of the payment flow remain outside the broker’s direct environment, which can limit flexibility in treasury management and internal processes.