LMAX, an institutional trading platform, is reviewing options that could value it at up to $5 billion, including a potential sale, SPAC merger or a Nasdaq initial public offering, according to people familiar with the discussions.

The company works with Morgan Stanley and KBW, Stifel’s investment banking arm, and has not started a formal public process or agreed to any transaction. LMAX operates foreign‑exchange and digital‑asset venues in London, New York, Tokyo and Singapore, serves banks, brokers, hedge funds and asset managers, and is authorized by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority. It declined to comment on speculation.

A multi‑year partnership with Ripple, which provided $150 million in financing and required integration of the RLUSD stablecoin across LMAX’s institutional infrastructure, supports its expansion into institutional digital markets. In February, LMAX launched Omnia Exchange, a 24/7 platform for converting traditional and tokenised assets, and added a custody service called Kiosk in May. The service enables institutions to deposit digital assets into LMAX Custody and use them for spot foreign‑exchange, precious metals, cryptocurrencies, perpetual futures and other products. In July, LMAX completed its first digital‑asset prime brokerage trades with Standard Chartered for Bitcoin and Ether with T+1 settlement.

The strategic review remains at an early stage, and LMAX has not set a timetable for completing it. The company said it felt no pressure to list while crypto markets remain weak, and any valuation will depend on market demand, financial results and the final structure of a transaction.