Crypto trading alliance ADAM issues code of conduct; recruits 5 new members including BitGo

The Association for Digital Asset Markets (ADAM) has released a code of conduct, which all of its members, including Hudson River Trading, Galaxy Digital, and Genesis Global Trading, will sign in early 2020. 

Formed in November last year, the association aims to promote ethical practices and set standards for best market conduct in digital assets. In addition to drafting the code, ADAM also recruited five additional members: BitGo, Anchorage, CMT Digital, BlockFi, and Tagomi. 

According to a statement, ADAM will be in contact with state and federal regulators to solicit feedback prior to the signing. Once signed, members are expected to abide by the code; a violation may result in the member being removed from the association, Paxos General Counsel Dan Burstein confirmed to The Block. 

"We expect all members to uphold the code and have developed a Board-level review process in circumstances where a member may be accused of violations of the code. That said, we believe all members that choose to join ADAM are committed to our values and will uphold our code of conduct," said Burstein. 

The code covers topics such as market ethics, custody, information security, and others. The lack of efficiency and transparency in the cryptocurrency trading market was one of the Securities and Exchange Commission's biggest concerns as they considered a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). As a result, asset managers Bitwise and VanEck have both failed in their attempt to garner the regulator's approval for its bitcoin ETF this year.