Bitstamp – ranked 12th on the list of top crypto exchanges by market value – has reportedly forged an alliance with pro-crypto Silvergate Bank, to put the new Bitcoin (BTC) leveraged trading on pilot testing. 

Revealed on January 14th, the exchange will handle the launching part of the new trading feature – Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN) Leverage service – in the collaboration with the bank.

During the pilot testing, only a group of specifically chosen institutional clients will have access to the leveraged trading feature. Bitcoin is the only facilitated collateral for the time being, with Bitstamp taking care of the custody duty in the partnership with Silvergate bank. 

Silvergate Bank’s pro-crypto attitude has been helping it in teaming up with big names in the crypto exchange sector. In August 2019, Gemini – the Winklevoss twins-established crypto exchange platform – has been onboarded to Silvergate’s SEN network, in an attempt to roll out support for 24/7 transfers. 

As stated in a submitted document with the US SEC in March last year, Silvergate Bank is offering its services to 542 cryptocurrency-focused customers, including digital coins exchanges and miners, custodians and global investors, among others. 

Leveraged cryptocurrency trading is beginning to be placed under a more thorough scope by the Japanese regulators. Previously, the Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) has suggested bringing down the leverage rate limit of crypto margin trading, from 4x down to 2x.