United States-based digital asset manager Wave Financial has made its first European acquisition after the purchase of a small stake in Swiss crypto assets company Criptonite Asset Management. Based on a statement By Wave Financial, securing a minority stake is the first step towards a whole acquisition of the firm, which it expects to complete by the end of this year, pending regulatory approval.
The two companies have had an informal partnership as of 2021 with Criptonite distributing Wave Financial’s bitcoin and nonfungible token funds in Europe.
This acquisition will ensure that Wave Financial benefits from what it alleges to be the increased interest in digital assets from Europe’s institutional investors, mostly for regulated companies like Criptonite and Wave which have been licensed by Finma in Switzerland and the SEC in the United States respectively.
It is also possible for it to be the first of several acquisitions, based on Wave Financial CEO David Siemer. He stated:
Buy Crypto Now“This bear market is an opportunity for us to continue to grow and expand, both organically and by acquiring crypto asset managers. Wave is in discussions with several asset managers, exchanges and lenders, as we look to expand our footprint in Europe and beyond.”
Institutional investors have been quite wary of investing in cryptos but have remained open to digital assets and tokenized funds, mainly when regulated asset managers are involved.
Wave Financial is not alone in buying stakes in European digital asset managers. In July 2022, global investment company Schroders acquired a minority share in Forteus, an asset manager focused on tokenized assets and blockchain.
