COUNTERPARTY FILE · last re-checked 2026-09
Cumberland (DRW) — institutional liquidity provider
Cumberland operates with certain undisclosed licensing and historical details, necessitating cautious engagement.
Licence, read literally
| Regulator | Licence number | Jurisdiction | Tier | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FCA (cryptoasset registration for UK agent DRW Global Markets Ltd) | 746273 | UK | tier-1 | open source ↗ |
| NYDFS (virtual currency business licence, Cumberland New York) | not verified | US | tier-1 | open source ↗ |
| BVI FSC (Securities and Investment Business Act licence, Cumberland International Trading Ltd) | not verified | British Virgin Islands | tier-2 | open source ↗ |
| CIMA (registration under Cayman Securities Investment Business Act, Cumberland Global Limited) | not verified | Cayman Islands | tier-2 | open source ↗ |
Tier classification follows the same scale as the retail register: tier-2 means real supervision and client-money segregation, without an investor compensation scheme — never misread it as tier-1 protection.
Residuals a counterparty carries
Unpublished licensing details
Cumberland's licensing numbers and status dates are not published on their own pages.
Source: firm disclosures page
Lack of firm founding year
Cumberland's founding year is not stated on their own pages, creating uncertainty about their history.
Source: firm disclosures page
The claims ledger
Claims specific enough to be falsified — and the ones that remain the venue's own measurement.
Testable claims
- Own policy page states: 'Cumberland New York is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the New York State Department of Financial Services'; 'Cumberland's agent in the UK, DRW Global Markets Ltd, is registered as a cryptoasset firm with, and authorized by, the Financial Conduct Authority'; 'Cumberland International Trading Ltd. is licensed by the British Virgin Islands (BVI) Financial Services Commission under the BVI Securities and Investment Business Act'; 'Cumberland Global Limited is registered with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority under the Cayman Islands Securities Investment Business Act'; member of ISDA; and 'DRW Holdings, LLC is the ultimate parent company for the entities in the Cumberland Group' (cumberland.io/policy, checked 10 Sept 2026)
- FCA register bulk-extract lists DRW GLOBAL MARKETS LTD, FRN 746273, Authorised (LEI 549300JVXT0U42UPXE36) — the UK agent named on Cumberland's own policy page
Claims we cannot verify from outside
- 'Deep, reliable liquidity' and 'one of the longest-standing crypto liquidity businesses' characterisations come from partner releases (Wyden, GCEX), not audited figures
- DRW Holdings, LLC 'LT Rated by Moody's and S&P' appears on the own policy page without the ratings themselves being published
Perimeter and coverage
| Asset classes | Venues | Connectivity | Clients accepted | Explicitly refused |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crypto OTC spot, Digital-asset derivatives market making, Institutional crypto liquidity via integrations (GCEX XplorSpot, Wyden network) | API (OTC), Third-party distribution integrations (GCEX, Wyden) | Banks, Brokers, Institutional crypto clients (per partnership releases) |
A firm that publishes its own negative space — who it refuses, where it is not licensed — is materially easier to diligence than one that doesn't. The refusal list is treated here as disclosure, not as a defect.