Troy Dixon is Co-Head of Global Markets at Tradeweb.
What were the key theme(s) for your business in 2025?
Two trends that really played a role in defining 2025 was the acceleration of automation and the growing interconnectedness of global markets. Clients moved beyond basic electronification and started using adaptive, data-driven tools for larger and more complex trades, supported by richer analytics and AI-enhanced workflows. We also saw real traction in the extension of electronic trading into areas that had previously been mostly manual – from uncleared swaps and swaptions to larger in-competition activity.
At the same time, liquidity became more interconnected across assets, regions and time zones, breaking down silos that used to shape the trading landscape. The industry is now operating with a level of integration we simply didn’t see a few years ago.”
What are your clients’ pain points and how have they changed from a year ago?
A year ago, clients were mainly focused on simplifying workflows and reducing manual touchpoints. Today, the challenge is scale. They’re trading more products across more regions and need tools that can automate not just execution, but decision-making as well.
Dealer selection, algo integration and multi-asset workflows have all become areas where clients want greater precision and connectivity. The expectation now is seamlessness – and ongoing technological advancements are supporting that level of sophistication and helping clients push further in that direction.
How do you see digital assets reshaping institutional markets?
Digital assets are shifting from experimentation to becoming real market infrastructure, and that change is starting to reshape how institutions think about trading and settlement. Tokenisation is no longer a proof-of-concept exercise – we’re seeing genuine adoption across areas like government bonds and repo, where tokenised collateral and stablecoins are making faster, more continuous settlement workflows possible.
As this infrastructure matures, the lines between digital and traditional assets will blur, creating more interoperable markets and more efficient cross-asset connectivity. Having a clear digital footprint will grow increasingly important, as the next phase of electronification will be deeply tied to how digital and traditional market rails come together.
What are your expectations for 2026?
We expect 2026 to be a pivotal year for the role of data and AI in markets. Traders will rely even more on predictive analytics, automated pricing engines and intelligent execution tools that can adapt in real time to fast-moving conditions.
We’re also seeing early growth in frontier areas – from private credit and event-linked or prediction markets to new AI-driven trading applications – all of which stand to benefit from greater transparency, standardisation and electronic execution.
In digital assets, infrastructure will continue to mature, and the distinction between tokenised and traditional instruments will fade even further as settlement speeds increase and interoperability improves. Taken together, these developments point toward a more connected and data-rich global market structure, where new and traditional asset classes increasingly operate on shared, modernised rails.
