UK-based digital asset Exchange Archax is planning to acquire Deutsche Digital Assets (DDA), a German regulated crypto asset manager.
DDA manages approximately $70 million in assets and specializes in crypto exchange products (ETPs) distributed through a network of European banks and asset managers.
The agreement provides Archax with a new license under Bafin, Germany, including portfolio management and investment advisory permission to serve EU institutional clients.
The acquisition is based on Archax’s 2023 purchase of Spanish broker KSCM. DDA’s deal allows Archax to currently hold regulatory approvals in the UK, Germany, France and Spain, allowing it to work in many of Europe’s fragmented digital asset environments.
The UK recently opened the door to crypto ETP for professional investors, but Germany has gotten off to a head start. Archax is now gaining access to markets that are already used to these products, along with regulatory permissions to issue and distribute them.
Timing may be important as market demand for tokenized assets and regulated digital equipment grows amid geopolitical uncertainty.
Archax also provides its cryptographic provisions, as well as tokenized real-world assets such as private equity and real estate, establishing itself as a bridge between traditional financial and blockchain infrastructure.
Archax CEO Graham Rodford said the transaction positions his company as one of Europe’s most comprehensively licensed digital assets companies. Maximilian Lautenschläger, DDA’s managing partner, described the move as a natural fit that opens new market channels on both sides of the channel.