A sign that the race for size is in full swing in the sector, the Dutch cryptocurrency exchange platform Finst is buying the assets of its counterpart Anycoin Direct. Goal of the operation: generate volume while the new MiCA regulations are fast approaching.
The crypto sector has been on the rise for several months. The launch at the start of the year of the first Bitcoin ETFs in the United States proved to be a success. The price of bitcoin is approaching $100,000. And the consolidation of the sector is underway. The proof with the Dutch crypto platform Finst which announces having completed a new financing round of 70 million euros and acquired the strategic assets of its competitor Anycoin Direct, active since 2013 and totaling more than 500,000 users in several countries in Europe including Belgium, in addition to the Netherlands, Germany and Austria.
Grow fast
The operation is indicative of the significant wave of mergers currently underway in the sector. For example, the Californian payments giant Stripe has just bought Bridge, a stable coin payment specialist for more than a billion dollars. Closer to home, in France, the Paymium exchange platform has got its hands on one of its competitors Zebitex. Etc.
In this context marked by a race for size, the operation will allow the start-up created by former members of the online broker Degiro and based in Amsterdam to grow more quickly. “This first acquisition will first allow us to significantly expand our customer base, with the logical consequence of an increase in the volume of transactions and outstandings administered, and then to launch our activities in other European countries earlier than planned. ”, indicates Julien Vallet, CEO and co-founder of Finst, who specifies that all Dutch and Belgian customers of Anycoin Direct can now easily transfer their account and their assets to Finst.
The arrival of MiCA
The arrival of MiCA is not unrelated to the operation and the wave of consolidation currently underway. Published in June 2003, MiCA is in fact a regulation which defines a specific framework aimed at regulating the crypto assets industry (investor protection, monitoring of transactions, etc.). A framework that significantly changes the situation for crypto players active in Europe.
With MiCA, the sector is indeed entering a much more regulated world. “From next year, platforms will have to obtain a license and will be subject to the control of regulators. It is a drastic and above all very rapid change which implies higher operating costs and therefore reduced margins, to the point of pushing certain players, like Anycoin, to rely on others,” adds Julien Vallet.
