Digital asset custody firm BitGo announced the acquisition of Brassica, which provides back-end technology and custody services for private securities and alternative investments. Hence, it’s positioning the firm for the real world asset (RWA) tokenization trend.
“We currently have a dichotomy in financial services – one side deals with traditional securities and the other deals with up-and-coming blockchain-based assets and cryptocurrencies,” said Mike Belshe, CEO of BitGo. “With this acquisition, BitGo becomes the first major financial services firm to be able to provide comprehensive infrastructure support for both traditional private securities and blockchain-based assets, while significantly expanding our global presence.”
He’s right that there is mostly a dichotomy. However, some organizations already do both, particularly on the traditional finance (TradFi) side rather than those with a crypto background. Several big banks provide crypto custody. However, in the United States, they’ve essentially been blocked from doing so by the SEC’s staff accounting rule.
Youngro Lee, Founder and CEO of Brassica, added, “Our technology-focused development, combined with our deep domain expertise in securities and banking laws, uniquely position us in the market, especially for sophisticated clients dealing with the complexities of private securities and digital assets.”
Brassica holds a Texas license as a transfer agent as well as a Wyoming Trust charter. BitGo has trust charters in South Dakota and New York.
Meanwhile, BitGo raised $100 million in a Series C funding round at a $1.75 billion valuation last year. In an unusual move for that size of raise, BitGo didn’t share the backers’ names. However, it described them as new strategic investors. Previous investors include Goldman Sachs Growth and DRW.
