The cryptocurrency exchange CrossTower agreed to acquire the institutional prime broker Bequant. The acquisition will be financed with the support of Lydian Group.
According to the press release, the deal will give CrossTower access to more than 600 institutional clients across the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Their combined annual trading volume exceeds $400 billion.
According to the exchange’s CEO Kapil Rathi, the agreement is aimed at restoring trust in the sector, which has been eroded by recent events surrounding FTX.
On November 24, a senior executive stated the possibility of creating a vehicle to acquire promising firms. He explained that the target is a client base, a solid balance sheet and a track record of organic growth.
Prior to that, the firm refiled its bid to participate in the auction of the assets of the insolvent Voyager Digital creditor. CrossTower’s competitors will be Wave Financial and Binance.US.
The cryptocurrency exchange also announced the launch of an ESG fund aimed at investing in companies with a mission of “democratizing finance.”
In November, Binance, Bitget and OKX independently launched recovery funds to support FTX-affected companies and avoid a cascading effect.
Earlier, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao allowed the exchange to acquire the assets of Sam Bankman-Fried’s exchange.
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