UK regulated digital assets exchange and custodian Archax has acquired Spanish broker King & Shaxson Capital Markets (KSCM) which was formed in 2019. Subject to regulatory approvals this allows Archax to extend its footprint into Europe as a regulated brokerage, multi-lateral Trading Facility (MTF) and custodian. It also plans to add crypto derivatives.
Archax initially started by focusing on providing a digital securities marketplace, but quickly expanded into a cryptocurrency exchange. On the tokenization front, asset manager abrdn is its largest outside investor. The exchange lists funds from abrdn, BlackRock and Fidelity International.
“The Archax strategy has always been to expand its regulatory footprint globally, with the EU region being of prime importance for us, post-Brexit. This acquisition expands and enhances our access to permissions within the EU region, building on those we hold with the FCA in the UK,” said Graham Rodford, CEO and co-founder of Archax.
“It also broadens our regulated capabilities-particularly in distribution and crypto derivatives – positioning us well for the upcoming implementation of MiCAR in the EU”.
Earlier this month Archax inked a deal with another EU MiFID regulated entity, Assetera, enabling cross listing of digital securities by both parties.
In its recent accounting filings, Archax revealed that it had 58 institutional clients as of the end of 2023, with assets under custody of $112 million and almost $100 million in OTC trading volumes. For 2023, the largest external source of revenues were consultancy fees of £1.4 million ($1.8m), with another £3 million ($3.9m) coming from recharging expenses to other group companies. The net loss for the company was £2.4 million ($3.1m), but the group accounts have not yet been published.
