Back in April, the Boerse Stuttgart Group announced its fintech subsidiary Sowa Labs would release a cryptocurrency trading app. Yesterday the Boerse announced it plans to launch a platform for fundraising via ICOs, a multilateral trading platform for cryptocurrencies, and also provide custodial services.
By providing all three solutions, the group intends to offer an end-to-end infrastructure.
The ICO approach might be more conservative than it appears at first. The group’s statement provided examples such as the issue of digital tokens for corporate finance or to represent rights and assets. So they may not support startups raising funds based on a powerpoint. The group said that ICOs would be standardized and transparent.
“On this basis, we can offer central services along the value chain for digital assets, all under one roof. Investors and market participants know that Boerse Stuttgart Group stands for quality, transparency and reliability. As a Germany-based provider, we want to transpose this standard into the digital world. We will help to promote acceptance of digital assets,’ said Alexander Höptner, CEO at Boerse Stuttgart GmbH.
“At the trading venue, tokens issued via our ICO platform can be traded on the secondary market. This is an important success factor for ICOs. At the same time, we are responding to demand from both retail and institutional investors for a regulated and reliable environment for trading with cryptocurrencies.”
Many cryptocurrency exchanges charge large sums of money to list tokens for secondary trading, so there’s a market opportunity.
The trading will include ‘established’ existing cryptocurrencies. The statement included Bitcoin and Ethereum in particular.
Deutsche Boerse, operator of the Frankfurt stock exchange is also active in the blockchain sector. Back in 2016 they launched a prototype settlement system with Deutsche Bundesbank. As yet they haven’t formally announced the launch of cryptocurrency activities, but they’re involved with stock lending platform HQLAX.
