Big financial firms such as Standard Chartered Bank and Virtu Financial Inc. are preparing to join a new London crypto-derivatives trading platform as a market rally boosts the appeal of digital currencies, Bloomberg reports. Trading platform Global Futures and Options Ltd. or GFO-X has signed up ABN Amro Clearing and market maker IMC and expects to launch in the first quarter of next year, the company said Monday.GFO-X is backed by MG Investments, the asset-management arm of pensions giant MG Plc. GFO-X, which will handle trading in bitcoin index futures and options, was initially scheduled to go live by the end of 2023 but failed to launch on schedule due to two delays. arnab Sen, chief executive officer of GFO-X, said that there has been a renewed surge of interest in the platform from financial firms due to the cryptocurrency market rally that was once again triggered by the election of Donald Trump to the White House.