FOMO, a Singapore payments startup, has acquired CapBridge and its subsidiary 1exchange. In 2019 CapBridge attracted backing from the Singapore Exchange (SGX) as well as the Hanwha Group. It services high net worth individuals (HNWI) operating as an issuer of tokenized securities while its subsidiary 1exchange is a digital securities exchange that uses public blockchain.
FOMO: from payments to crypto to digital securities
The acquirer FOMO provides conventional payment and merchant services as well as providing a fiat on and offramp for cryptocurrencies with several larger corporate crypto clients including Amber, B2C2 and the Huobi Exchange. Last year FOMO raised a $13 million Series A investment led by Jump Crypto. Two of its other backers are very active in crypto and blockchain – HashKey Capital and Republic Capital.
The acquisition has been approved by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, so FOMO can use the Capital Markets Services (CMS) License held by CapBridge and the Recognized Market Operator (RMO) License owned by 1exchange. FOMO described acquiring the CMS license as a “proactive regulatory approach” given the “continuous development in the classification of digital assets.” It is already licensed as a Digital Payment Token service provider, Singapore’s crypto license.
Tokenized securities in Singapore
Meanwhile, CapBridge offers a range of tokenized securities to high net worth individuals (HNWI). One of its selling points is the minimum investment is often $1,000 as opposed to $10,000 or more. The range of digital assets includes bonds, investments in the equity of unicorns and tokenized real estate.
The CapBridge group appears to directly compete with Singapore’s ADDX which also attracted backing from SGX and Hanwha Group but several other asset managers and exchanges as well. ADDX closed a $58 million pre-Series B funding round last year before the funding market became quite so tricky.
A big hitter will soon join the fray. AsiaNext, a joint venture between Switzerland’s SIX (operator of SDX) and Japan’s SBI, plans to launch a digital securities exchange.
