The UK’s first regulated digital asset exchange, Archax, has closed $28.5 million in a Series A funding round.
abrdn led the round as strategic investor, with involvement from other firms including Bitrock Capital, Blockchain Coinvestors, CE Innovation Capital, Keiretsu Capital, Lingfeng Capital, Mathrix AG, SGH Capital and The Tezos Foundation.
Archax is the UK’s first and only digital securities exchange, brokerage and custodian licensed by the FCA. The firm allows institutional investors to custody and trade a wide range of digital assets including digital securities and cryptocurrencies, as well as traditional securities.
Archax has also revealed plans to offer a range of regulated crypto exchange traded products (ETPs) in the near future.
“We are extremely pleased to have been able to complete a round of this size during the turbulent crypto and traditional financial market conditions of the last few months,” said Graham Rodford, chief executive and co-founder of Archax.
“It is also fantastic to have such credible and strategic partner investors involved in the raise too – led by abrdn. We look forward to the next phase of the Archax journey as we scale up for launch and beyond with these partnerships in place.”
Earlier this year, Archax concluded a deal with abrdn, making it the largest external shareholder of the exchange. By investing into Archax, abrdn will offer investors access to the venue as a route to acquire new investment opportunities through digital securities.
“The digital assets ecosystem continues to grow at pace, and Archax’s success in this latest funding round underlines the appetite there is among investors to partner with organisations at the forefront of that shift,” said Russel Barlow, global head of alternatives at abrdn.
“As momentum builds, Archax, and abrdn, are well placed to take advantage and meet growing client interest in digital assets that can be accessed through digital exchanges.”