Today Crypto Finance announced that German regulator BaFin awarded its German subsidiary with four licenses. Switzerland’s FINMA already regulates the Swiss institutionally focused company and Crypto Finance’s parent is the Deutsche Börse, following its acquisition in 2021. Deutsche Börse plans to launch an institutional crypto exchange this year, the Deutsche Börse Digital Exchange (DBDX).
“Our commitment to covering the entire value chain sets us apart and we are now proud to be able to achieve significant milestones in Germany, where we offer highly regulated services,” said Eric Viohl, Managing Director Crypto Finance (Deutschland) GmbH.
“Our offering goes beyond trading to include settlement, custody, and post-trade services, creating a seamless experience for institutional investors seeking access to the dynamic world of digital assets”.
The key question is how Crypto Finance fits in with the soon-to-launch DBDX. Our guess is it will likely be the core.
A spokesperson for Deutsche Börse told Ledger Insights that Crypto Finance (Deutschland) GmbH will be part of “Deutsche Börse’s value chain” in the crypto business and considered the licenses a prerequisite.
The Deutsche Börse unveiled high level plans for DBDX in November last year. It aims to bring a trusted market infrastructure to the crypto space.
There’s an increasing number of institutional actors involved in the crypto space. In the US, there’s EDX Markets, founded by Citadel Securities, Schwab, Fidelity, Virtu and others. Across the pond, Goldman and Citi backed Elwood Technologies, which Alan Howard founded. It is an execution management system rather than an exchange. UK exchanges include abrdn-backed Archax and Standard Chartered’s Zodia Markets. In Switzerland, there’s the SIX Digital Exchange (SDX), which also has a Singapore joint venture, AsiaNext.
