What RQD Clearing does

RQD Clearing (legal entity RQD* Clearing LLC) is a privately held, New York-headquartered correspondent clearing and custody firm founded in 2021 as a spin-out from an established options market maker. The company operates an SEC-registered, FINRA-member broker-dealer that is licensed in 53 U.S. states and territories and holds memberships in OCC, DTC, NSCC, and SIPC, providing clearing, custody, and execution services for U.S. listed equities, options, and ETFs to broker-dealers, fintech platforms, foreign financial institutions, and proprietary trading firms. Named customers include Webull, Virtu Financial, Investify, OpenCash, Tradition, TradingBlock, Atomic Vaults, Valuable Capital Securities (Asia), Blue Ocean ATS, Provable Markets/Aurora ATS, and Bitget (via Stock+).

The company's central technical differentiator is that its platform is built entirely on cloud-native, real-time technology hosted on Microsoft Azure, with no on-premise infrastructure and full in-house codebase control — a structural contrast to legacy clearing firms that rely on closed-source third-party vendor systems. Functional capabilities include real-time trade processing (no batch delays), complete API integration from Day One, automated paperless account opening, real-time ACATS transfers, smart order routing with over 40 customizable algorithms, ultra-low-latency direct market access, FINRA-approved portfolio margin, fractional shares across approximately 6,000 U.S. symbols, and securities lending with margin financing, supported by a client portal (RQD* Hub) and developer sandbox (RQD* Lab). The firm is SOC 2 Type II attested, reports 99.99% core system uptime with active/active georedundancy, and participates in DTCC's tokenization working group alongside 50+ firms.

RQD generates revenue primarily through transaction-based fees — most prominently payment for order flow (PFOF) rebates from wholesale market makers (Virtu, Jane Street, Citadel Securities, Two Sigma) for routed equity and options orders, plus custom clearing and custody fees charged to correspondents on monthly billing cycles. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is tailored to each client's business model. The go-to-market is API-first, combining direct enterprise field sales with strategic investor referrals (Nyca Partners, ABN AMRO Clearing), a self-serve portal, and a developer relations motion, targeting onboarding of larger institutional clients as a stated post-Series A priority. Total disclosed venture funding is approximately $10 million (Series A, October 2023), supplemented by undisclosed strategic investments from Belvedere Strategic Capital (March 2023) and Gentree Fund (May 2026).

Name

RQD Clearing

Legal name

RQD* Clearing LLC

Website

https://rqdclearing.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

RQD Clearing is a New York-based, SEC-registered correspondent clearing and custody firm offering cloud-native clearing, custody, and execution for U.S. equities, options, and ETFs to broker-dealers, fintechs, and foreign financial institutions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Correspondent Clearing and Custody

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320), Securities and Commodity Exchanges (52321)

SIC

Finance Services (6199), Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211)

akta.pro primary industry

Clearing & Settlement Operations Services (FSAFALAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Cross-Border Payments Clearing (International Wires & FX Settlement) (FSABAJAC)

Keywords

• Correspondent clearing
• Securities custody
• Trade execution
• Cloud-native clearing
• Fractional shares trading

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Transaction Fees / Payment for Order Flow (PFOF): RQD Clearing earns revenue by sending retail equity and options orders to third-party wholesale market makers (e.g., Virtu, Jane Street, Citadel Securities, Two Sigma) who pay rebates (PFOF). For held orders, wholesale market makers pay rebates per share (e.g., $1+ shares: $0.0032/add liquidity, $0.0020/remove liquidity; under $1 shares: 15 bps add, 10 bps remove). For options: $0.50/contract for non-index options, with exchange fees passed back.
2. Clearing and Custody Fees: Clearing and custody service fees charged to broker-dealers, fintechs, and financial institutions. RQD's modern back-office system enables competitive fee schedules for fractional shares, contrasting with legacy firms that charge high per-trade fees. Pricing is custom and flexible to match client revenue models.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

RQD Clearing provides a cloud-native correspondent clearing, custody, and execution platform for U.S. listed equities, options, and ETFs, built entirely on Microsoft Azure with API-first integration. The platform delivers real-time trade clearing and settlement, securities lending with margin financing, smart order routing with 40+ customizable algorithms, FINRA-approved portfolio margin, and fractional shares trading for broker-dealers, fintech platforms, and foreign financial institutions.

Product overview

RQD Clearing offers a unified clearing and custody platform architecture consisting of three core product modules: Clearing (correspondent clearing for U.S. equities, options, and ETFs), Custody (asset safekeeping with securities lending and margin financing), and Execution Services (smart order routing, algorithms, and DMA). The platform is built entirely on cloud-native technology hosted on Microsoft Azure, differentiating from legacy clearing firms through real-time processing, API-first integration, and modular scalability. Supporting products include RQD* Hub (client web portal), RQD* Lab (developer portal), Portfolio Margin (advanced margin framework), and Fractional Shares (fractional equity trading).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• RQD* Hub: Client portal for RQD clearing services
• RQD* Lab

Products and services

• Clearing A next-generation correspondent clearing platform supporting U.S. listed equities, options, and ETFs. Features automated paperless account opening, real-time ACATS transfers, real-time reporting, and a flexible cost framework supporting various business models. Designed for broker-dealers, fintechs, and proprietary trading firms.
• Custody Security systems purpose-built to meet the most demanding regulatory requirements, including cashiering, dividend processing, corporate action handling, tax processing, securities lending with competitive rates and deep inventory of locates, and margin financing with real-time risk and margin updates.
• Execution Services Advanced multi-asset execution capabilities including sophisticated smart order routing (SOR) with over 40 customizable algorithms, ultra-low-latency direct market access (DMA) to U.S. options and equities markets, multi-dealer capability with indication of interest (IOI) mechanism, and deep domain expertise in exchange order mechanisms and fee structures.
• RQD* Hub Client web portal providing real-time access to account management, trade data, reporting, and risk monitoring through a modern mobile-compatible web interface for correspondent clients.
• RQD* Lab Developer portal and API sandbox environment enabling correspondents to test integrations, work out issues before cutover, and access complete API documentation. Features a production-mirror testing environment for pre-deployment validation.
• Portfolio Margin Advanced FINRA-approved margin framework that intelligently measures portfolio risk across correlated exposures, offsets, hedges, and strategy design. Available at $150K threshold, enabling more risk-sensitive capital efficiency for options traders and complex portfolios.
• Fractional Shares Capability to trade fractional shares (as a fraction or notional amount) in approximately 6,000 U.S. equity symbols listed on U.S. markets, enabling democratized access to investing with sustainable fee schedules compared to legacy clearing firms.

Quantifiable outcome

• Processes billions of dollars in U.S. equity and options trading daily
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered supporting and core.

• Bitget (via Stock+ Platform)supportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 22 June 2026Bitget launched Stock+, enabling qualified traders to purchase US stocks and ETFs using cryptocurrency. RQD Clearing (alongside Atomic Vaults Securities) serves as the U.S.-licensed broker executing equity orders routed to Nasdaq and NYSE. The service offers over 500 U.S. stocks and ETFs, with AUM exceeding $50 million via rToken products. The service is provided by Parsa Financial Services Pty Limited (Bitget group entity licensed in South Africa).
• Blue Ocean Technologies / Blue Ocean ATScoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 March 2026Blue Ocean ATS (broker-dealer subsidiary of Blue Ocean Technologies) and RQD Clearing signed an MOU in March 2026 to jointly develop clearing and settlement capabilities for tokenized National Market System (NMS) equities. The partnership aligns with DTCC's tokenized securities infrastructure roadmap, enabling 24/7 trading including weekends and holidays. RQD already provides real-time overnight trade capture and straight-through processing for Blue Ocean ATS's overnight session.
• DTCC (Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 March 2026RQD Clearing is a member of DTCC, DTC, and NSCC, directly connected to the core rails of US clearing infrastructure. RQD participates in DTCC's Industry Working Group for tokenization (50+ firms) alongside major banks, custodians, exchanges, and asset managers. RQD is early to adopt NSCC's extended clearing hours (24x5 from Q2 2026) and is aligned with DTCC's tokenization service timeline (July 2026 limited production trades, October 2026 full launch).
• Provable Markets (Aurora ATS)supportingTechnology or Integration · 18 April 2024RQD Clearing partnered with Provable Markets' Aurora ATS in April 2024, joining DTCC's National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC) Securities Financing Transaction (SFT) clearing service. The partnership enhances RQD's capacity to offer efficient securities lending and borrowing services, leveraging NSCC's clearing infrastructure, DTC's settlement functionality, and Aurora's trading and lifecycle automation.
• Atomic VaultssupportingTechnology or Integration · 14 September 2022RQD partnered with Atomic Vaults (a retail trading technology platform backed by Founders Fund) to democratize options trading. Atomic Vaults leverages RQD's cloud-native technology stack for clearing, settlement, and asset servicing to provide retail investors access to US listed-options with precision and flexibility.
• Valuable Capital SecuritiessupportingTechnology or Integration · 8 June 2022RQD Clearing partnered with Valuable Capital Securities (US-based broker-dealer affiliate of Hong Kong-based Valuable Capital Ltd.) to provide US market access and clearing solutions for more than one million Asia-based retail investors throughout the Asia Pacific region.
• TradingBlocksupportingTechnology or Integration · 1 March 2022RQD Clearing extended its partnership with TradingBlock to include full clearing and execution for TradingBlock's active and retail trading lines. TradingBlock leverages RQD's cloud-native clearing infrastructure for comprehensive post-trade processing.
• Microsoft AzurecoreTechnology or IntegrationRQD's entire clearing, custody, and execution platform is hosted on Microsoft Azure, eliminating all on-premise infrastructure. Azure provides superior data security, redundancy, failover capability, and the stability of the world's leading cloud computing services. This cloud-native architecture enables rapid feature deployment, high scalability, and 99.99% uptime with georedundant infrastructure.
• Virtu Americas LLCsupportingOthersVirtu Americas LLC is a wholesale market maker to whom RQD routes held equity and options orders. RQD receives PFOF rebates from Virtu (e.g., $0.0032/share for add liquidity orders >= $1, $0.0020/share for remove liquidity orders >= $1). Virtu provides price improvement and execution for RQD's clearing client orders.
• Jane Street Capital LLCsupportingOthersJane Street Capital LLC is a wholesale market maker routing partner for RQD's equity and options order flow. RQD receives PFOF rebates ($0.0032/share for add liquidity >= $1, $0.0020/share for remove liquidity >= $1) and $0.50/contract for non-index options executed through Jane Street.
• Citadel Securities LLCsupportingOthersCitadel Securities LLC is a wholesale market maker routing partner for RQD's options order flow. RQD routes customer orders in NMS securities options contracts to Citadel Securities to facilitate execution and price improvement, receiving PFOF in return.
• Two Sigma Securities LLCsupportingOthersTwo Sigma Securities LLC (SOHO) is a wholesale market maker routing partner for RQD's equity order flow, receiving PFOF rebates for order execution and price improvement services.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Apex Clearing (Apex Fintech Solutions): Largest US correspondent clearing firm serving fintech/neobroker clients including Webull. Direct competitor to RQD in modern API-first clearing for retail brokerages, and the firm from which RQD's CRO Michael Lanyon was hired.
• Velox Clearing: Technology-focused correspondent clearing firm serving broker-dealers, fintechs, and digital asset platforms. Competes head-to-head with RQD for modern clearing mandates with an emphasis on API integration and digital asset readiness.
• Vision Financial Markets: Independent clearing and execution provider for broker-dealers and prop firms. Comparable mid-sized correspondent clearing competitor to RQD with similar retail/prop trading focus.
• COR Clearing: Retail-focused correspondent clearing firm offering clearing, custody, and execution services to broker-dealers. Directly competes with RQD in the small/mid-cap broker-dealer correspondent segment.
• Wedbush Securities: Diversified financial services firm providing correspondent clearing, prime brokerage, and execution. Competes with RQD for broker-dealer clearing mandates, particularly in active trading.

Broad incumbents

• Pershing (BNY Mellon): Largest US correspondent clearing provider, owned by BNY Mellon. The dominant incumbent whose legacy infrastructure RQD is explicitly positioned against; offers clearing, custody, and execution as part of a broad BNY Mellon platform.
• Interactive Brokers: Global electronic broker that also provides clearing and custody services to introducing brokers. Broad incumbent with similar client mix but materially larger scale and global footprint.
• StoneX: Global institutional brokerage and clearing firm providing correspondent clearing, prime services, and execution across asset classes. Broad incumbent competing with RQD for institutional correspondent clearing mandates.

Emerging players

• DriveWealth: Cloud-native brokerage-as-a-service platform with US equities execution and infrastructure. Adjacent peer with similar API-first technology posture, increasingly offering more clearing-style services to its fintech clients.
• Alpaca: API-first brokerage infrastructure platform for fintechs and developers. Competes in the modern, developer-centric clearing/execution layer and overlaps with RQD's fintech target segment.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/rqdclearing
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rqd-clearing

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors5 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about RQD Clearing