By: Yara Ainsworth, Head of Marketing and Communications, Crypto Finance AG
DEUTSCHE BÖRSE GROUP ACQUIRES MAJORITY STAKE IN CRYPTO FINANCE AG, EXTENDING ITS OFFERING FOR DIGITAL ASSETS
Crypto Finance AG is an independent financial group under consolidated FINMA supervision, offering institutional and professional clients trading, storage, and investment in digital assets
The acquisition is an important step on Deutsche Börse’s way to building a trusted and fully regulated digital asset ecosystem in Europe
Crypto Finance’s founder, Jan Brzezek and the current management team will continue to lead the company and retain significant personal holdings
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, with a fully licenced 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 setup 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 investor 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 and 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 and Founder, of 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 will 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.
About Deutsche Börse Group
As an international exchange organisation and innovative market infrastructure provider, Deutsche Börse Group ensures markets characterised by integrity, transparency, and stability. With its wide range of products, services, and technologies, the Group organises safe and efficient markets for sustainable economies.
Its business areas extend along the entire value chain in exchange trading, including the admission, trading and clearing, and custody of securities and other financial instruments, the dissemination of market data, as well as the management of collateral and liquidity. As a technology company, the Group develops state-of-the-art IT solutions and offers IT systems all over the world.
With more than 9,000 employees, the Group has its headquarters in the financial centre of Frankfurt/Rhine-Main, as well as a strong global presence in locations such as Luxembourg, Prague, London, New York, Chicago, Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Tokyo, and Sydney.
About the Crypto Finance Group
Crypto Finance AG and its subsidiaries provide institutional and professional investors a full suite of crypto asset products and services. This includes one of the first 24/7 crypto brokerage services as a FINMA-licenced securities firm; storage infrastructure and tokenisation solutions; and the first FINMA-regulated crypto asset management with an active and rule-based alternative investment fund offering. With a team of over 55 employees, the Crypto Finance Group is headquartered in Switzerland with a regional presence in Singapore. Since its founding in 2017, the Group has been recognised several times, including as a Crypto Valley Top 50 blockchain company, Top 100 Swiss Start-up, and 2019 Swiss FinTech Award winner.
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