Arcady Lapiro’s Post

The crypto market is shaking with positivity. With the giant that is Robinhood to acquire the crypto exchange Bitstamp for $200M 🚀 🚀 Bitstamp will accelerate Robinhoods crypto expansion with over 5M retail users across US, UK, EU and Asia! The deal should be finalized by early 2025. Seeing more funding and big brands coming in. Seems others are prepping for the next cycle. As #web2 businesses transition to #web3 building the right teams to spearhead your departments is pivotal. Too many times we have seen projects fails with wrong key hires and a lack of blockchain knowledge. Rest assured Axiom Recruit has your back. With 5 years in the #blockchain and #AI space, building teams, placing 100s of positions, educating you on the vast market, and growing start-up to scale-ups! We cover top talent in tech, gaming, product, sales, marketing, and legal and executive search, Axiom is the partner you need. For when you need the best reach out to myself or our directors Andrew Phillips or Lumi Phillips https://lnkd.in/e2RWSkJa #crypto #bitcoin #web3 #axiomrecruit #hiring

Brine.fi Pioneering Defi with $16.5M Funding. Founded in 2021 by university friends Bhavesh Praveen, Ritumbhara Bhatnagar, and Shaaran Lakshminarayanan, Brine Fi had a clear mission from the outset: to provide traders and institutions with the ultimate DEX experience. Their team boasts former executives from industry giants like Coinbase, PayPal, Venmo, Flipkart, Harvard, and MIT. Lakshminarayanan explains, "DEX enables on-chain trading, ensuring users execute orders directly on the blockchain while retaining full asset custody. Although DEXs provide a secure option, many traders have turned to CEXs due to higher trading fees on DEXs, price slippage, transaction fees (£5-£25 per transaction), liquidity challenges, the absence of an order book, transaction delays, and a lack of order privacy—leading to front-running attacks. Brine Fi offers a solution that combines the best of both worlds, granting access to DEX and CEX advantages within a single platform." #defi #dex #fundingnews #zkp https://lnkd.in/eB5Acqx3

Archax is a London-based, FCA-approved exchange, brokerage, and custodian for digital assets, led by finance industry leaders Graham R. and Andrew Flatt . Their vision is to bridge the gap between cryptocurrencies and traditional financial markets, providing a secure platform for reliable trading and investing in digital assets. 🛡️💰 What sets Archax apart is its unwavering focus on institutions and their customers. By catering exclusively to institutional investors, they aim to become a top-tier, regulated digital asset exchange, standing out from the crowd. Their expertise in highly regulated markets and deep understanding of tokenization and blockchain technology make them a reliable choice in this ever-evolving landscape. 🌱💼 In November 2022, Archax reached a significant milestone by announcing the successful completion of its $28.5 million Series A financing, bringing its total investment raised to an impressive $41.6 million over five rounds. 💼💸 Join us in keeping an eye on Archax as they make their mark in the world of digital assets. With their commitment to transparency, regulation, and institutional-grade services, they have the potential to shape the future of digital asset trading. 🚀🔒 Check out the whole post here: https://lnkd.in/dVYtcNKS #Archax #DigitalAssets #CryptoExchange #Blockchain #Fintech #Innovation #Finance #Investment #Regulation #Newzchain

How do you see crypto transforming your daily transactions? Venkat Mandava, SVET Svitlo, Graham Bignell, Sang Lee, Ethan Chankowsky, Ed Prado, Arjun Thyagarajan, Kevin Lehtiniitty, Elias Fernandez Sanchez, Susmit Lavania, Conward Swift, Simone Mazzuc BRLA Digital, a frontrunner in cross-border payments and crypto infrastructure, is on a roll after securing further investment from 99 Capital. This boosts their pre-seed funding to a whopping R$ 4 million. Here's the breakdown: 1. Strategic Investments: Backed by Dave Wang of 99 Capital and big names from the crypto world. 2. Crypto Innovation: Their homegrown stablecoin, $BRLA, brings efficiency to financial transactions. 3. Growing Influence: With over 30 potential clients by end of 2024, they're setting the pace in the fintech realm. https://lnkd.in/dw--F8Wz #CryptoInfrastructure #FintechInnovation #CrossBorderPayments

Europe's blue-chip crypto 'champion' acquired by Robinhood. The continent will never achieve prominence in new technologies if every player gets bought by an American or Chinese company but what to do? I am a free-markets fan but if Europe wants to have a stake in the digital asset economy with #blockchain, #bitcoin and #crypto etc it needs to nurture (and keep) regional champions somehow. Web3 and blockchain is global.. they should take advantage of US regulatory uncertainty with special incentives. The crypto bull market was the driving force behind a massive Q1 earnings boost, Robinhood Markets stock (HOOD.O) has surged 69% this year, is doubling down on crypto via the acquisition of the exchange Bitstamp for about $200 million in cash, speeding up a broader push into digital assets. Bitstamp is of Europe's oldest and most blue-chip regulated crypto firms (since 2011) holds 50 active licenses and registrations globally/. This puts them in direct competition with industry giants such as Binance and Coinbase. However the firm also received a so-called Wells notice from the U.S. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The markets regulator has argued that crypto tokens should be considered securities and subject to its registration rules. Crypto firms, on the other hand, have accused the SEC of overreach as it plans to bring enforcement action against a company. It may not go far given the Biden administration recent 180 on crypto. Election Votes are key and stats indicate that 25% of americans own crypto - higher amongst the young. The unexpected Ethereum Network ETF approval seems to be one consequence of this U-turn. Again Europe (inc UK) should push heavily into #blockchain and all associated technologies to have some domestic bigTech champions in this new growth sector. https://lnkd.in/dPmtD6Eh

Anchorage Digital, a San Francisco-based technology company that provides custody of digital assets, is launching a self-custody wallet for institutions seeking to safely engage in the cryptocurrency markets. Investor interest in digital assets has jumped significantly over the last two months, spurred by the Security and Exchange Commission's January approval of 11 exchange-traded funds tied to the spot price of bitcoin. One of those funds, the iShares Bitcoin Trust launched by the New York-based asset management firm Blackrock last month, accumulated $1 billion in assets within its first four days of trading. Anchorage debuted the mobile and web-based Porto platform on Monday, allowing institutional users to access more than 200 currencies like Aptos, Sui and bitcoin, as well as all current and future tokens built using ethereum's standards. "As institutional participation in the digital asset ecosystem continues to grow, so has the demand for an uncompromising self-custody solution. … That is why we built Porto as a safe, secure and accessible self-custody solution in response to demand from institutions and market participants," said Nathan McCauley, chief executive and co-founder of Anchorage Digital. Thank you to McCauley, Conor Patrick (Cordial Systems) and Terrence Y. (Swan Bitcoin) for taking the time to chat. Read more in my latest for American Banker below! #cryptocurrency #fintech #digitalassets

"Germany’s Bankhaus Scheich tokenizes Euro money market fund on Polygon -Tradias, the fintech technology arm of Bankhaus Scheich, has tokenized a money market fund, the Allianz Securicash SRI Fund. A Dutch crypto trading platform has invested in the token as part of its treasury management. Like other tokenized  money market funds, the issuance amount will grow over time based on demand. The initial amount was not disclosed. #BankhausScheich is one of the leading market makers on the #FrankfurtStockExchange, so the #issuances use its existing #regulatory #licenses.  In this case the benefits touted are the ability to trade the token 24/7 and the cost structure. But given it’s currently a one-off token, the question is with whom can it be traded? In the same way that Tradias provides an API and user interface for trading Bitcoin or ETH, it also provides a price for the tokenized money market fund. Additionally, it plans to make the token available via other platforms. “We’re offering a forward-thinking solution for managing #liquidity with tokenized money market funds,” said Michael Reinhard, CEO of tradias. “Investors and individuals investing in cryptocurrencies and digital assets now have the opportunity to manage their liquid funds based on a token while achieving money market equivalent returns.”  Other #tokenized #moneymarket #funds To date most of the #MoneyMarketFunds that have been tokenized on public blockchains are based on #US investments. They’ve proven popular given stablecoins don’t pay interest.  For example, there’s #FranklinTempleton ’s OnChain Government Money fund (market cap of $324m) and #OndoFinance tokenizes the iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF (market capitalization: $113m). In some ways the tradias tokenization falls between the two. On the one hand, Franklin Templeton is a highly regulated #assetmanager and Bankhaus Scheich is a regulated #bank. In contrast, there’s limited oversight with Ondo Finance. However, Ondo is tokenizing an existing fund that it doesn’t manage, and so is tradias. The tradias tokenization was on the #PolygonBlockchain."  Ledger Insights #BankhausScheich #blockchain #blockchainfund #digitalassets #distributedledger #DLT #Euro #fund #tokenization #fundtokenization #funds #Germany #moneymarket #Polygon #tokenisation #tokenizedfunds #Tradias Bankhaus Scheich Wertpapierspezialist AG #EU #Capitalmarkets

Robinhood buys Bitstamp for $200 million: a major expansion in the cryptocurrency sector - https://lnkd.in/dMSFg3tn ---- Cryptocurrencies: the American broker Robinhood acquires Bitstamp With the aim of expanding its influence in the cryptocurrency sector, the American trading platform Robinhood announced on Tuesday the acquisition of the crypto exchange Bitstamp for an amount of 200 million dollars . This strategic acquisition should be finalized by the first half of 2025 and will allow Robinhood to offer a broader range of services to its users while targeting new customers. According to our information, Barclays Capital and Galaxy Digital acted as financial advisors for Robinhood and Bitstamp during the sale. For Johann Kerbrat, general manager of Robinhood Crypto, this acquisition is a step forward for the broker. “The acquisition of Bitstamp marks a crucial step in the development of our crypto business. Bitstamp, an exchange platform renowned for its reliability and age, has been able to withstand market fluctuations. This strategic merger will allow us to increase our international presence, outside the United States, and to welcome an institutional clientele on Robinhood. » In December, Robinhood had already started offering cryptocurrency trading to its customers in the European Union . Founded in the United Kingdom in 2011, Bitstamp quickly established itself as an essential cryptocurrency exchange platform on the European market , to the point of becoming the main one today . The platform currently offers spot trading for over 85 cryptocurrencies, as well as other innovative crypto-related financial products, such as lending and staking. Recognized for its seriousness and compliance with regulations, Bitstamp is subject to regular audits by the largest international auditing firms.Trade Republic: earn 4% interest per year on uninvested cash $200 million: details of the acquisition This $200 million buyout will allow Robinhood to expand its global presence in the cryptocurrency market. Headquartered in Luxembourg, Bitstamp has offices in the United Kingdom, Slovenia, Singapore and the United States. The company serves an international clientele with over 50 active licenses and registrations worldwide, spanning the European Union, United Kingdom, United States and Asia. For JB Graftieaux, CEO of Bitstamp, this acquisition is major for the exchange. “Integrating Bitstamp’s platform and expertise into the Robinhood ecosystem will provide users with a better trading experience, with a continued commitment to compliance, security and the customer journey. » According to our information, the CEO and the rest of Bitstamp's management will remain in place after the takeover of the exchange by Roobinhood. With this acquisition, Robinhood will make its first

So, BlackRock, Ondo & Superstate, Have Officially, Become. Quarter 1's, Biggest Movers In This Fast Paced, Real World Asset (RWA) Sector... 🚀🚀 RWAs, are one of the fastest emerging sectors in crypto. They are TradFi assets, such as Treasury bills, that have been tokenized to interact with DeFi protocols. RWAs allow for the blending of TradFi with blockchain technology, enabling broader liquidity and innovative financial products. The previous quarter saw the RWA market grow tremendously. Tokenized Treasury bills including BlackRock's, USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, Superstate's, Short Duration US Government Securities Fund, and Ondo's, USDY grew by an impressive 41% to nearly $1.3B, driven by institutional interest and innovative product launches. #InstitutionalInterestAndNewProductsSpurGrowth... 📈 📉 Much of the growth has come from major international institutions. BlackRock, launched an on-chain Treasuries product that quickly amassed $280M in deposits. Then, Superstate, debuted a tokenized T-bill fund that attracted $82M. These initiatives highlight the confidence and interest in RWAs from TradFi and crypto-natives alike. Existing RWA players have also expanded their offerings. With, Ondo Finance shifting deposits into its new USDY product. Centrifuge, a platform for tokenizing RWA's, saw steady growth in assets under management for the 2nd straight quarter. Beyond growth in assets, we're seeing the emergence of infrastructure, that make RWAs more accessible and composable with the broader DeFi ecosystem. Superstate aims to leverage blockchain tech for increased speed, programmability and compliance. M^0 Labs is developing a way to generate digital cash from high-quality off-chain collateral that can then be used as a building block for other products. Ondo, envisions a 2 way system to move assets between on-chain tokens and off-chain accounts. Centrifuge continued to expand its platform for tokenizing RWA's, maintaining steady growth in its assets under management for another consecutive quarter. #DevelopingTrendsAndTheFuture... 📌📌 DeFi protocols are finding ways to incorporate RWA yields. Morpho, helps create non-custodial vaults that pass on RWA yields to DeFi users. TrueFi, a credit protocol, is launching Trinity to let users deposit tokenized T-Bills as collateral to mint a dollar-pegged asset usable across DeFi. Addressing, demand among DeFi users for enhanced composability and transferability in RWA products. Integrating RWAs into DeFi in a scalable, user-friendly way has started to come together, with major institutions driving inflows. New primitives are being built, with greater interoperability with existing DeFi infrastructure. RWA's are a key growth driver for crypto. Accordingly, If these trends continue, we will see, tokenized RWA's in the Trillions by 2030. Which as predicted by Superstate's Leshner, may not be so far-fetched after all. #theTOKENISATIONofRWAswithDEFIisgoingtobeEXPLOSIVE... 💥💥

🤯 Huge News for Real-World Assets Citi forecasted #RWA to hit $5 trillion by 2030, and they have just announced they are stepping into the tokenized equity market…. Opulous is proud to stand at the forefront of #RWA tokens, championing music as the most reliable new asset class. Things are about to get very exciting! Read the full story 👇 #Crypto #Blockchain #Growth https://lnkd.in/eC46nuZh