Deutsche Börse Group has acquired a majority stake in Crypto Finance AG, a financial group under consolidated FINMA supervision that offers trading, storage, and investment in digital assets to institutional and professional clients. Through the acquisition, Deutsche Börse further extends its offering for digital assets by providing a direct entry point for investments, including post-trade services such as custody.
Crypto Finance Group, a fully licensed securities firm, offers 24/7 trading and brokerage of more than 200 digital assets in combination with a highly secure in-house custody solution. With connectivity to a multitude of digital asset venues worldwide, Crypto Finance bridges the problem of liquidity fragmentation in the market. Professional and institutional clients can directly invest in digital assets, without having to set-up their own infrastructure and operational frameworks. Furthermore, Crypto Finance enables clients to store a wide range of digital assets securely with custody solutions, as well as offering tokenisation and blockchain infrastructure services. An asset management unit under FINMA regulation also enables investors access to the digital asset class via an active and rule-based alternative investment fund offering.
As part of Deutsche Börse Group, Crypto Finance will be able to further scale the business and expand the range of digital asset services. Deutsche Börse also intends to make Crypto Finance’s offering easily accessible for participants via its established platforms. The goal is to establish a neutral, transparent, and highly scalable digital asset ecosystem under European regulation.
“Digital assets will transform the financial industry. There is increasing demand from established financial institutions who are looking to become active in this new asset class and want a trusted partner,” said Thomas Book, Executive Board member for Trading & Clearing at Deutsche Börse. “We are excited that Crypto Finance is joining the Group. The team is an ideal strategic fit and will help us tremendously on our way to building a trusted and fully regulated digital asset ecosystem for institutional investors in Europe. Crypto Finance perfectly complements our recent offerings like 360X, the innovative DLT-based platform for serial marketplace creation, and our leading, centrally-cleared crypto ETNs.”
Jan Brzezek, CEO & Founder, Crypto Finance AG, said: “Since the beginning, our goal was to bridge the old and new worlds. This is why we are excited to team up with a neutral partner like Deutsche Börse, who brings trust, reputation, and expertise in traditional financial market infrastructure. In combination with our proven expertise in crypto assets and the underlying technologies, we can now achieve our goals much faster. Together, we will enable thousands of financial institutions and professional investors in Europe to instantly enter this new asset class in a way they are familiar with.”
With its investment in a moderate three-digit CHF million range, Deutsche Börse will hold a two thirds majority in the 2017 founded fintech that has received multiple awards. The remaining shares stay with existing investors, including CEO and founder Jan Brzezek, who will continue to lead and manage the business. The parties expect to close the transaction in the fourth quarter of 2021, following regulatory approvals. Further terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Photo by Stefan Elvis-stiuca on Unsplash
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