Deutsche Börse, the marketplace organizer for the trading of shares and other securities, has acquired a majority stake in Crypto Finance AG, a Swiss digital asset firm, to upscale its crypto and digital asset offerings in Europe.
It has been reported that the German stock exchange operator has bought a two-thirds stake in the digital asset company. Though the financial details of the deal have yet to be made public, Deutsche Börse revealed that the purchase sum was in the “moderate three-digit CHF million range.”
However, the stock purchase agreement will be finalized in Q4 2021 once all parties receive the required green light from regulators. The stock market platform is reportedly looking to leverage Crypto Finance AG’s expertise in dealing with institutional crypto investors to deploy direct investment services as well as post-trade solutions like custody.
The report said that Crypto Finance, a regulated entity by Switzerland’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority, offers digital asset brokerage and custody solutions. Back in April 2020, the company raised $14.5 million in a Series B funding round that drew participation from major Swiss and Asian investors. With the majority acquisition, the Swiss firm now becomes a part of the Deutsche Börse Group.
Jan Brzezek, the founder and CEO of Crypto Finance, will continue to run the company founded in 2017. Deutsche Börse acquiring a majority stake in the Swiss digital asset firm is the latest step by the stock exchange operator’s growing crypto and blockchain involvement.
Likewise, the news is also another example of the emerging partnership between regulated entities in Germany and Switzerland concerning crypto and digital assets trading. Stock exchanges in both countries have previously allowed passporting of crypto exchange-traded products, allowing seamless listing procedures for such ETPs. Both nations have also adopted similar crypto regulatory policies.
The first phase of Switzerland’s comprehensive blockchain law went into effect earlier in the year, with phase two expected to happen in the summer.
Thus, German authorities legalized crypto securities back in December 2020 while yet to enact a full-spectrum crypto and blockchain regulatory framework.
Source: Cointelegraph