Archax, the FCA regulated digital asset exchange, broker and custodian based in the UK, has expanded globally and expanded institutional use cases of tokenized real world assets.

On 22 July 2025 Archax Group said in a statement that it had agreed to acquire Deutsche Digital Assets to further extend its footprint in the European Union. This follows Archax’s announcement in March this year that it is going to buy Globacap Private Markets, a US regulated broker-dealer and alternative trading system (ATS), which will be renamed Archax Markets US. In April this year Archax also opened an entity in the Dubai International Finance Centre under an innovation license.

Last year Archax, agreed to acquire the Spanish broker King & Shaxson Capital Markets, Sociedad de Valores, S.A. (KSCM), to be renamed Archax Markets Europe, S.A. The deal will allow Archax to extend its existing regulated brokerage, multi-lateral trading facility (MTF) and custody capabilities into the European Union, as well as add crypto derivatives to its permissions.

Simon Barnby, chief marketing officer at Archax, told Markets Media that the change of control has been approved for the Spanish broker, so the deal is due to close shortly.

Barnby said: “One of the reasons for extending our regulatory reach around the world is to strengthen that moat around us. We certainly feel Archax is in a pivotal position as  financial markets move onchain.”

Deutsche Digital Assets is a digital asset manager based in Germany with approximately $70m in assets under management, and offers crypto ETPs and a suite of institutional products licensed under BaFin, the German regulator. Barnby said Archax was also attracted to Deutsche Digital Assets’ presence in France and Switzerland and other parts of Europe.

Merging with Deutsche Digital Assets also allows Archax to gain EU regulatory permissions for advisory, distribution, portfolio management and contract brokerage, which covers the full spectrum of regulated digital asset solutions across Europe and the UK from tokenized funds and securities to active crypto strategies.

“We have always wanted to do more product creation but we did not have enough people,” said Barnby. “Deutsche Digital Assets can package assets we have into ETFs or other structured products. It’s a great combination”

Archax can also list products from Deutsche Digital Assets on its platform, which is attractive as the FCA has proposed lifting its ban on offering crypto exchange traded notes to retail investors in the UK. With the acquisition of Deutsche Digital Assets, Archax believes it is uniquely positioned to offer comprehensive access to digital assets from native, onchain crypto via its regulated exchange, to fully institutional-grade crypto ETPs tailored for professional investors.

In order to extend its extend its distribution and reach into the U.S., Archax has agreed to acquire Globacap Private Markets, an SEC and FINRA regulated broker-dealer and ATS. Barnby said Archax had initially made a regulatory application to launch a broker-dealer in the US, but that was paused due to the lack of regulatory clarity over crypto and digital assets under the previous administration. The regulatory environment under the new administration has become more positive and Globacap became available with its regulatory licenses.

The U.S. ATS can also be used to list traditional securities, and Archax also wants to add equities and gilts in the U.K. Archax has listed multiple asset classes on its venue, including tokenized money-market funds, corporate bonds, carbon credits and uranium.

“We see the U.S. as an exciting place,” said Barnby. “Initially we will use the entity as a shop window for the products that we have in Europe, but in time we will probably set up more of an operation there.”

There are already large U.S institutions operating in the digital asset and crypto space. For example, Kinexys by J.P. Morgan is the bank’s blockchain business unit, and the Bank of New York Mellon and Goldman Sachs are working together on tokenized money market funds.

“We are not trying to compete with those institutions but will be another independent venue where people can get a variety of things,” Barnby added. “We are a bit like the Amazon marketplace.”

Consultancy Crisil Coalition Greenwich said in a report: “We expect to see more nationally regulated U.S. venues emerge over time, similar to those in other jurisdictions, such as the Archax and Zodia Markets in the U.K.”

If you believe in public blockchains—as we do—then the answer is clear:

Every transaction in the future will be on-chain.

And every on-chain action will require gas. (2/6)

— Graham (@Grodfather) July 25, 2025

Pricing is harder to predict — velocity, utility, network activity all play a role.

But the fundamental need for native tokens isn't going away. (4/6)

— Graham (@Grodfather) July 25, 2025

Therefore, for those who believe in an on-chain future:
Native tokens are the fuel that will power the financial markets. (6/6)$algo $arb $eth $hbar $pol $sol $xdc $xlm $xrp $xtz

— Graham (@Grodfather) July 25, 2025

Tokenization

Alongside crypto, Archax also offers tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). For example, BlackRock’s tokenized money market fund, BUIDL, is available on Archax.

Maximilian Lautenschläger, managing partner at DDA said in a statement: “We’ve known the team at Archax for several years and have always seen how complementary our strengths are. Joining their family creates incredible synergy: we bring deep access to institutional investors across Germany, France, and Switzerland who are actively looking for tokenized products.”

In July this year tokenized units of Aberdeen Investments’ money market fund and tokenised UK gilts were used as collateral for foreign exchange trades between Aberdeen and Lloyds Banking Group for the first time in the UK. The digital tokens were issued, transferred, and securely held by Archax on the Hedera Hashgraph public permissioned blockchain.

Archax said the trade demonstrates that regulated digital assets can serve as collateral in the FX market, which is a significant milestone and the collaboration between two of the UK’s largest financial institutions and a regulated fintech marks is major step forward in digital finance. Barnby said the FX transaction was the first use-case for Nest, Archie’s permissioned decentralized fiancee (DeFi) network which allows institutions to move regulated, tokenized assets between members of the network.

Emily Smart, chief product officer at Aberdeen Investments, said in a statement: “Tokenization has long been seen as a key enabler in the new world of digital innovation. This demonstrates the ability of digital assets to streamline processes and increase efficiency.”

Archax launched its tokenization engine which can create tokens backed by any regulated or unregulated real-world or traditional asset in 2023. That year Archax created a tokenized representation of its interests in the Aberdeen Standard Liquidity Fund (Lux) – Sterling Fund, Aberdeen’s flagship multi-billion pound money market fund, and has since tokenised other money market funds.

Barnby said other institutions are working on similar projects. He added: “Lloyds are looking at how they can use tokenization in other use cases and how they can scale it.”\

Institutions (and individuals but less relevant here) transact with each other all day long. Sometimes for cash, sometimes for credit. When taking exposures with each other, they often post collateral. (2/8)

— Graham (@Grodfather) July 18, 2025

Trad asset rails mean this process has issues – transferring assets out of market hours or at the weekend can be problematic. Therefore, either collateral payments can be slow or borrowers over collateralise to avoid an issue. i.e. Just in case rather than just in time. (4/8)

— Graham (@Grodfather) July 18, 2025

The possibilities extend beyond our FX margin use case for both tx type and collateral when regs allow. ie using anything to collateralise anything (equity for crypto margin, gold for fx etc) when both parties agree. Tokenisation makes this possible and relatively easy. (6/8)

— Graham (@Grodfather) July 18, 2025

Nest is live on @hedera @Ripple @Algorand @ethereum @XDC_Network_ @solana @arbitrum @etherlink @0xPolygon @StellarOrg . If we can custody the asset, we can tokenise it and if you can convince your counterpart to accept it, you've got a nice digital collateral use case. (8/8)

— Graham (@Grodfather) July 18, 2025

He continued that Archax has been talking to many institutions since the firm launched seven years ago. At the beginning they were skeptical of digital assets, and now they have large teams of people getting involved so he believes real momentum building, which has been accelerated by the change in U.S. regulations.

“We have been  doing this for seven years, and it is amazing how much time it takes to to get everything you need in place to do this properly,” added Barnby. “We know people coming to this fresh have got quite a journey ahead of them.”