ZUG, Switzerland, Feb. 26, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- STS Digital closed its strategic round led by CMT Digital, with participation from Payward, Strobe Ventures, Arrington Capital, F-Prime and BitRock Capital, to accelerate the growth of its crypto options trading platform.

The new capital will be deployed to rapidly scale the firm’s institutional-grade spot and options platform, deepen its market-making capabilities, and materially strengthen its balance sheet and liquidity position- laying the foundation for long-term dominance in core markets.

STS Digital is a regulated principal trading firm specialising in digital asset options and institutional market access. Clients can trade 400+ tokens across spot, vanilla and exotic options, and structured products via a unified platform spanning UI, API, and voice. The strategic round comes as crypto derivatives, particularly options, have increasingly been used for hedging, yield strategies, and volatility exposure, rather than purely directional trading, bridging the gap between digital assets and traditional finance.

Executive Commentary

Gideon Hyams, Chairman and Co-Founder of STS Digital, said the funding will help the firm continue to operate a world-class digital assets trading platform. “This investment enables us to meet the explosive demand from institutional investors for our spot, options and structured product pricing. We’re thrilled to bring on board top-tier investors who recognise the urgency of scaling our platform to serve the next generation of trading. As banks, asset managers and financial intermediaries rush to integrate our pricing engine, this funding ensures we stay ahead of demand.”

Maxime Seiler, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of STS Digital, “This round is about far more than capital. Partnering with institutions of this depth and reach gives us the ability to enter new markets faster, roll out new products at scale, and accelerate institutional adoption globally. Digital asset options is the fastest-growing product category within the asset class and the market demands principals with resilient balance sheets, best-in-class execution, and disciplined risk management. This funding allows us to scale with focus and intent, alongside partners who will help shape the next phase of crypto derivatives.”

Investor Perspective

“From day one, what stood out to us was the team. We believe STS combines the discipline and prudence of seasoned options veterans with genuine entrepreneurial ambition, and their execution to date has been impressive. They have already built a meaningful liquidity moat in crypto options, and our view is that liquidity is one of the most durable competitive advantages in financial markets. Our tech team was particularly impressed by their approach to risk management and platform scalability, which we believe positions them to become a foundational liquidity layer for the crypto derivatives market. Operating under the BMA further reinforces their institutional credibility. We are proud to lead this round and back a team that is raising the bar for institutional crypto derivatives," said Sam Hallene, Partner at CMT Digital

“Derivatives are among the most powerful tools in crypto, giving market participants more ways to manage risk and navigate volatility,” said Arjun Sethi, CEO of Payward, the financial infrastructure platform behind Kraken. “We’re excited to support the industry-leading team at STS Digital and work together to expand Kraken’s growing derivatives capabilities, bringing our traders more ways to trade confidently in fast-moving markets.”

Market participants have placed greater emphasis on execution quality, counterparty strength, and balance-sheet resilience among liquidity providers, especially following periods of market stress. Firms with the capacity to warehouse risk and provide consistent pricing across volatile conditions are increasingly seen as critical to the continued development of the institutional crypto derivatives markets.

This strategic raise places STS Digital at the center of institutional crypto derivatives and the next wave of digital assets growth.

About STS Digital

Through STS Digital Ltd., STS Digital, is a regulated principal trading firm specialised in digital-asset derivatives and providing institutional-grade market access. Clients can trade more than 400 tokens across vanilla and exotic options, spot, and structured products through a unified platform spanning UI, API, and voice channels. Built by derivatives veterans and regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority, STS Digital delivers deep liquidity, competitive pricing, and robust risk-management to ensure a seamless trading experience.

W: https://www.stsdigital.io/ for more information and disclaimers.

About CMT Digital

CMT Digital is a crypto-focused venture capital firm built on nearly a decade of blockchain investing and decades of trading expertise. Founded in 2017, we were one of the earliest registered investment advisers to allocate capital into the digital asset ecosystem. Since then, we have invested in over 200 blockchain and crypto-focused businesses, protocols, and tokens. CMT Digital is a division of the CMT Group, a diversified investment firm that has operated for nearly 30 years across exchange-traded options and futures, private and public equities, energy products, crypto, and other alternative assets.

W: https://cmt.digital/

About Payward

Payward, Inc. is a unified financial infrastructure platform that powers a family of products advancing an open, global financial system. Built on a single shared architecture, Payward enables customers to hold, trade, earn, pay, and invest across asset classes without friction or fragmentation.

At its core, Payward provides the infrastructure layer behind Kraken and a growing set of purpose-built products, including NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, and CF Benchmarks.

Payward separates infrastructure from product expression. Each product surface is designed for a specific customer segment, regulatory regime, and use case, while operating on the same global foundation:

One global liquidity pool

One unified risk and margin engine

One collateral and settlement system

One compliance and licensing framework

This shared architecture allows Payward to scale efficiently, launch new products at low marginal cost, and serve diverse global markets while maintaining consistent risk management, regulatory integrity, and operational resilience.

For more information about Payward, please visit www.payward.com

Media Contact

Karen Bertoli,
STS Digital
E: @karen@stsdigital.io  
T: +1 (305) 216 4190

Sunil Chauhan
Evolve Digital Group
W: https://justevolve.io/
E: sunil@justevolve.io
TG: @sunilc88