Abrdn CEO Says Blockchain Will Shape Financial Markets As The Company Acquires A Stake In Archax

Neither the author, Tim Fries, nor this website, The Tokenist, provide financial advice. Please consult our website policies before making any financial decisions.

UK wealth manager Abrdn has acquired a stake in Archax, the UK’s first regulated digital stock exchange. In the official deal announcement, Abrdn CEO Stephen Bird said that blockchain technologies will inevitably shape an important part of the future of financial markets.

Abrdn becomes Archax’s largest outside shareholder

Scottish wealth management firm Abrdn announced that it has bought a stake in Archax. The transaction makes Abrdn the largest outside shareholder in Archax, the UK’s first regulated digital stock exchange

Based in London, Archax provides clients with access to digital assets and serves as a bridge to traditional financial markets. The deal will not only make Abrdn Archax’s largest outside shareholder, but will also earn it a seat on the company’s board of directors.

In the official press release, Abrdn Chief Executive Officer Stephen Bird expressed his optimism about the future of blockchain. He said blockchain technologies “will inevitably be a big part of the future of financial markets.”

“By leveraging these emerging digital technologies, there is the potential to offer greater transparency, greater speed and reduced friction in commerce.”

– Stephen Vogel

Founded in 2018, Archax is the first and only digital securities exchange to receive approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to offer crypto trading, custody and brokerage services. The exchange is scheduled to start later in 2022.

“Archax is one of the most promising UK players in what is expected to be the next high-growth financial space – the use of digital and tokenized securities with same-day settlement. In that sense, the growth of the digital investment market is about much more than just cryptocurrencies.”

– Stephen Vogel

Join our Telegram group and don’t miss any red hot digital asset story.

Increasing interest of institutional investors in digital assets

The deal between Abrdn and Archax underscores the growing interest of institutional investors in blockchain and digital assets. On Thursday, the world’s largest wealth manager, BlackRock, unveiled a spot bitcoin, a private trust, to attract more institutional investors. The move comes just a week after the US wealth manager partnered with Coinbase to offer crypto services.

What’s even more interesting is that this series of deals comes in what has been an extremely challenging year for the crypto space. Numerous cryptocurrencies have fallen to their multi-year lows, while several major crypto companies such as Voyager Digital and Celsius Network have filed for bankruptcy in recent months.

This “crypto winter,” fueled by record-high inflation, geopolitical tensions, and sharp hikes in interest rates by global central banks, marks a sharp reversal for crypto assets from last year, when some of them hit all-time highs. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum remain more than 60% off their November 2021 highs.

Finances are changing.

Find out how with Five Minute Finance.

A weekly newsletter covering the big trends in FinTech and Decentralized Finance.

Try it (free)

brilliant

You have signed up.

You’re well on your way to knowing.

Do you think the growing interest in digital assets will soon bring an end to the crypto winter? Let us know in the comments below.

About the author

Tim Fries is co-founder of The Tokenist. He has a B.Sc. in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tim was a senior associate on the investment team of RW Baird’s US private equity practice and is also a co-founder of Protective Technologies Capital, an investment firm specializing in sensing, protection and control solutions.