Encyclopedia

A reference compendium of digital asset trading terminology — from foundational concepts such as spot trading, OTC, and order book mechanics, to advanced market structure topics including market microstructure, latency arbitrage, and settlement finality. Definitions are written for professional market participants, financial intermediaries, and institutional investors navigating Switzerland’s digital asset trading ecosystem. Where relevant, definitions address Swiss regulatory treatment under FINMA, FinIA, and the DLT Act.

Digital asset trading sits at the intersection of traditional financial market infrastructure and novel blockchain-native technology, drawing vocabulary from both domains. A market maker on SIX Digital Exchange operates with concepts inherited from centuries of securities trading — bid-ask spread, order priority, and best execution — while simultaneously engaging with terminology native to distributed ledger technology: gas fees, mempool dynamics, atomic settlement, and on-chain versus off-chain execution. This encyclopedia bridges these two vocabularies for professionals who may be expert in one tradition but navigating the other for the first time.

Entries cover the full spectrum of digital asset trading: market structure (central limit order books, request-for-quote, dark pools, automated market makers), execution (TWAP, VWAP, iceberg orders, internalisation), settlement and custody (T+0, DvP on DLT, qualified custody under Swiss banking law, omnibus versus segregated accounts), and regulation (securities dealer licence, DLT trading facility authorisation, SRO membership, FinIA categorisation). Each definition prioritises precision and practical relevance, avoiding both oversimplification and unnecessary complexity. The encyclopedia is maintained as a living reference by the ZUG TRADING editorial desk and updated as market practice and regulatory terminology evolve.