Pedro Birmann, Quadra: How Brokers Can Compete With the Crypto Exchanges

Retail brokers don't need to lose ground to the crypto exchanges. They need to offer the products exchanges are offering, and a fast route to launching them. Pedro Birmann, CEO and Founder of Quadra, on why the convergence between traditional and digital markets is already under way, what brokers need in order to compete, and why Brazil is moving faster than almost anywhere else. This is a long one, but worth every minute. Stay for the product demo at around 56.00!! Quadra won Solution Provider of the Year, Execution and Trading, at the Hedgeweek Global Digital Assets Awards 2026. CHAPTERS 0:00 "You're gonna end up out of business" 0:32 Introduction 1:12 From sterling rates trading to digital assets 6:13 Building the first system, and the fragmentation problem 11:42 "There will be no TradFi and digital assets, only global markets" 13:38 The three products: Quadra Trade, Quadra Prime and CoinMatch 16:59 How Quadra Prime was born 21:32 Custodian agnostic, and why that matters 24:36 What retail brokers actually get 28:40 Should brokers feel threatened by the crypto exchanges? 31:12 Flexibility, customisation and the regulated client base 34:18 "If you can trade Turkish lira, you can trade Bitcoin" 35:33 The workshop process: mapping the gaps 41:52 Do brokers need 15 exchange relationships? 44:55 Pre-IPO stocks and tokenised equities 48:25 A neutral software provider, not a broker 49:20 Brazil: the fifth largest digital asset market 52:33 Brazilian banks, dual rails and the compliance cliff 56:09 *QUADRATRADE DEMO* 1:04:46 Market outlook: Bitcoin, liquidity and the AI narrative 1:11:34 Democratising access to private markets ABOUT THE LOWDOWN The Lowdown is LiquidityFinder's interview series with the people building institutional FX, liquidity, trading technology and digital asset infrastructure. https://liquidityfinder.com/join https://quadra.trade