Abrdn, one of the UK’s largest asset management companies, purchased shares from Archax, the only regulated stock exchange in the UK.
Asset managers in traditional finance are looking for ways to leverage the digital asset market. Archax said in a statement that the Edinburgh, Scotland-based company is now the company’s largest external shareholder. Abrdn declined to say the size of the stock or share how much it was worth.
Abrdn Will Expand Its Service Network With Archax Share
Abrdn, one of the UK’s largest asset management companies, has acquired a stake in Archax, the UK’s first and only digital securities exchange.
Stating that the growth of the digital investment market includes much more than cryptocurrencies, Abrdn CEO Stephen Bird said in a statement after the share sale:
Abrdn, which has assets of GBP 464 billion (approximately $564 billion), said it expects investors to use Archax as a pathway to investment opportunities in digital securities, offering a new take on existing offerings along with the tokenization of traditional assets.
Archax aims to provide access to blockchain-based assets for institutional investors in the traditional finance space but with an interest in crypto assets. It received registration from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in August 2020 to provide services in this space, making it the first exchange to offer digitized securities to do so.