Abrdn Acquires Stake in Archax

In an official announcement on 12 August, Archax confirmed that abrdn has signed a deal with the company to become its largest external shareholder. Archax has been established to facilitate institutional investors who are interested in blockchain-based digital assets.

Archax was established four years ago. The company has secured approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). With the recent collaboration, Archax aims to drive the adoption of blockchain technology in the financial sector.

The CEO of abrdn, Stephen Bird, commented: “Blockchain technologies are inevitably going to form a big part of the future of financial markets. There is the potential to offer greater transparency, greater speed, and less trading friction by using these nascent digital technologies. Archax is one of the most promising UK players in this next expected high-growth area in finance – the use of digital and tokenized securities with same-day settlement. In that sense, the growth of the digital investment market is about much more than cryptocurrencies.”

“With Archax, we will have a meaningful footprint in this fast-developing market, which is likely to evolve in a multitude of different ways that are relevant to our core businesses. This investment not only provides an opportunity for substantial financial benefits, but it also creates a partnership with some of the leading thinkers in an area that has the potential to play a substantial role in the future of finance,” Bird added.

Blockchain Technology

Institutional adoption of blockchain technology has increased sharply in the past few years. Despite the latest crypto market correction, organizations are still interested in entering the growing space of digital assets. Graham Rodford, the Chief Executive Officer of Archax, believes that abrdn’s support as a strategic investor is a major boost for the company.

“We look forward to working with abrdn closely to provide a new universe of users with access to our services, as well as creating new innovative tokenized products that will trade on our marketplace,” Rodford added.