Institutional blockchain trading platform OTC Exchange Network (OTCXN) today announced the completion of the first pilot fiat-crypto trades through its Peer-to-Peer trading solution, a move that could help the hybrid platform bring in more users.

In a statement, OTCXN said that these transactions mark an important step in establishing its blockchain-powered innovation, which aims to facilitate the conversion between cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies.

Join the iFX EXPO Asia and discover your gateway to the Asian Markets

The company said it believes today’s live test trades were “the world’s first exchange of tokenized US Dollars and tokenized Bitcoin between two separate trading accounts over an electronic trading platform with assets held in safekeeping at a neutral custodian and digitized on blockchain.”

OTC Exchange’s platform solves several issues in terms of mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrency institutional trading. It reduces risks of relying on counterparties credibility and eliminates the necessity for conventional intermediaries through a P2P community with a trade-to-settlement lifecycle.

OTCXN leverages its proprietary blockchain technologies to establish a completely new market model that improves liquidity access for the entire FX and cryptocurrency ecosystem.

OTCXN was established by electronic trading and e-FX technology expert Rosario Ingargiola, founder of FXone. Ingargiola led the design and development of one of institutional FX exchange technology stacks, used by global Tier-1 banks.

To highlight its readiness to scale and manage diverse transaction types, the company announces that it will enter the beta testing phase as early as next month. It should soon start to share access to the trading platform with the first registered beta testers.

Commenting on the news, Rosario Ingargiola, founder and CEO of OTCXN, said: “We believe this is a world first. We’ve received dozens of inquiries from trading firms and custodians about our launch date. I’m thrilled that our live test trades were a success and that we’ll soon bring our solution to the market. An independent custodian used OTCXN’s solution for custodians to digitize both fiat and crypto, and these assets were exchanged instantly without trading counterparty or settlement risk. “