- Archax has finalized its purchase of Deutsche Digital Assets, a German firm specializing in crypto exchange-traded products.
- The deal grants Archax access to BaFin’s stringent regulatory framework, complementing its existing UK FCA approvals.
Archax, a London-based firm founded in April 2018 by Graham Rodford, Andrew Flatt, and Matthew Pollard, is known for bringing real-world assets (RWAs) onto the blockchain, unlocking faster, more efficient, and more accessible investment opportunities.
Now, Archax is pushing its growth even further with the acquisition of Deutsche Digital Assets (DDA), a German digital asset manager overseeing about $70 million in assets. DDA specializes in crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) and a range of institutional-grade offerings, supported by an established distribution network across European banks and asset managers.
“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 tokenised products, ” Maximilian Lautenschläger, Managing Partner at DDA, commented.
By acquiring BaFin-licensed Deutsche Digital Assets (DDA), Archax is deepening its footprint across Europe, especially in Germany and France. This deal adds valuable regulatory permissions to Archax’s toolkit, covering advisory services, distribution, portfolio management, and contract brokerage.
It positions Archax to offer a full spectrum of digital asset solutions, from native, on-chain crypto traded on its regulated exchange to institutional-grade crypto ETPs designed for professional investors.
This move follows Archax’s purchase of Spanish broker KSCM and reflects its ambition to build one of the most complete regulated digital asset infrastructures across the EU and UK, cementing its position as a unique leader in the evolving digital finance space.
A Growing Relationship With Ripple
The collaboration between Ripple and Archax dates back to 2022, when Archax teamed up with Metaco to provide secure digital asset custody services for its clients. That connection deepened after Ripple acquired Swiss-based digital asset custody and tokenisation tech firm Metaco for $250 million in mid-2023 $250 million.
Both of them are working closely with regulators and policymakers to ensure their solutions meet the highest standards. Archax, already recognized as the UK’s first FCA-regulated digital securities exchange, custodian, and broker, has built a strong reputation as a trusted platform for institutional asset tokenization. Partnering with Ripple has taken that vision further.
Just last November, the two launched the UK’s first tokenized money market fund on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), Ripple’s blockchain that is purpose-built for institutional finance. XRPL isn’t just fast; it settles transactions in 3–5 seconds, with near-zero fees, and has processed over 2.8 billion transactions since 2012 without a single hack.
The XRP Ledger’s reliability makes it an ideal platform for tokenizing real-world assets and building institutional-grade DeFi solutions. It already supports a live Automated Market Maker (AMM) and is preparing to roll out powerful new features like Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs), Multi-Purpose Tokens (MPTs), and a Lending Protocol, all secured by a decentralized network of over 120 validators.
With analysts projecting tokenized assets to hit $16 trillion by 2030, the XRPL is positioning itself to power the wave of this innovation.
